The Witness
by taylorjsomeday
Summary: Alice was the queen of her highschool But when she witnesses something she wasnt supposed to see she is forced into a war between territorial vampire armies Now her once shallow life is change by an epic decision she must make: her life or 1000 others?JxA
1. Preface

It seems that I _used_ to be the queen; _I used_ to be able to get anything I wanted; and I _used_ to be the most beautiful person around. Well, you could say I wasn't anymore. Actually that was the understatement of the century. I was definitely not close to being as beautiful as these people. And-clearly- I had no control over what was going to happen to me. I was probably going to die, soon. And the worst part is, I didn't even care.

Looking up at the red eyes that hovered over me, I was mesmerized. His golden hair hung messily in his face, and I was in love. I didn't know how I knew it, but there was no doubting it, either. I was in love with him, no matter what I'd just seen him do. He could be a monster, but I didn't care. And as he leaned towards me, I wasn't sure if he was going to kiss me or kill me. But- once again – I didn't care.

"It's almost as if... I don't _want_ to kill you..." He said, more to himself than to me. I felt his breath in my ear as he whispered. It made me shiver, but more from excitement than from fright. He was as far away from me as possible, while still holding me in between his hands, which rested on my hips. He held me like he was afraid of breaking me. I relished the tingling feeling that his touch brought, afraid that he would let go of me. _It was heaven—right smack in the middle of hell. (New Moon Page 491)_

I thought quietly about what he said. I didn't mind if he killed me, really. At least I could die in his arms.

"Then don't." I barely even whispered the words, but I knew he could hear me.


	2. Someone's in trouble

**This is my very first Fanfic! It is co-authored by my friend, Alex. Thank you so much Alex! I wouldn't have been able to do this without you. **

**Please review!**

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"Mary Alice Brandon?" My balding English teacher, Mr. Craft, said while checking role.

"Alice." I corrected him, only briefly pausing my conversation with my friend. He nodded and scribbled it down on his clipboard.

It was the first day of my senior year, and I was stoked. I was finally the big fish in the pond. Though it didn't matter, really. I'd always been with the "in" crowd, even since my freshman year. After my fifteenth birthday party, no one doubted that I was "in" crowd material.

Of course, people started bowing down to me after my killer Sweet Sixteen, which had made it on the TV show, "My Super Sweet 16". Not only that, but I had won the award for the best Super Sweet 16 on the reunion show.

The only party that had ever topped my Sweet 16 was, of course, my seventeenth. It seemed to be an impossible task: Topping the un-toppable. But I did it.

I was already planning for my eighteenth birthday party this February. Actually, that's what my friend, Sophie, and I were discussing instead of listening to Mr. Craft's soooo boring speech on the many books we'd be reading this year. I didn't care; some kid would probably beg to do my book reports for me.

The bell finally rang, saving me from the snore fest. As I walked into the hallway, which was lined with lockers, I saw a few new freshmen goggling at me. I smiled.

They were eying my designer skinny jeans, the designer top I had bought last weekend, and the incredibly high stiletto heels that joined them. They were my favorite pair, and I didn't have the heart to throw them out. They _were_ nearly 3 months old. They were the kind that would make any other girl look like a hooker; they were so tall that any other girl would fall flat on their face within seconds, but not me, not Alice Brandon.

How do I have the money to have the wildest parties and wear the best clothes, you ask? Well, let's just say I have a little "gift" that comes in handy every now and then. But we'll get to that later.

I heard one of the little freshmen whispering "do it" over and over. I laughed inside. Finally, one of them spoke up warily, "H-hi, Alice."

I looked over at the little group, which was huddled up like penguins trying to share body heat, and smiled. "Hello." I said calmly. I was used to this kind of attention.

I was popular, and I knew it, but that didn't mean that I had to be all stuck-up to the underclassman like other people expected me to. _Welcome to the fabulous Spring Oaks High School, _I thought about saying. _Where the food tastes like crap, the lockers are too small to actually hold anything, the teachers smell like B.O., and Alice Brandon reigns. _

I had probably done those girls a favor. Now, they could go Brag to their friends that "OMG! Alice Brandon talked to me!"

I was considering skipping Math today, when _it_ happened again. I felt it coming before I saw it, so- before anyone else could see me- I ran into the bathroom and closed the stall behind me. I was having another vision.

All of a sudden the bathroom stall walls disappeared around me, replaced by a very different image.

_A girl was walking outside of her school. I instantly recognized her as my little sister, Bella. She walked towards the back of the school and stopped dead in her tracks. She was looking on as her boyfriend, Blake, was kissing another girl. _

_I saw the angry tears rise in her eyes as she walked towards the two. She tapped on Blake's shoulder. He then turned around, with a look of annoyance on his face. When he saw her, he looked surprised and started to talk,_

"_Bella, baby, It's not what it looks like-" Bella's face twisted in anger as the girl Blake had been kissing looked at her, smug. _

_Bella didn't answer. She simply took her right hand from the binder she was carrying and curled it in a fist. Before Blake knew what was coming, she snapped her fist in his face with enough force to give him a bloody nose._

_She ran from the scene- tripping with her unusual clumsiness- and into the woods. _

The vision faded and I sighed. I had to go get my sister before she gets mauled by a bear or something. The sad part was I'm not even joking. My sister's luck was so bad you'd think she'd walked under a couple ladders lately. But she hadn't. That was just Bella.

"Alice! What are you doing?!" I peered outside of my little stall, where Sophie was waiting for me. I hadn't realized she'd followed me in here.

"Um…"

"Oh, God. You're not pregnant, are you?" She stared at me. She should know better.

"No! I'm not that stupid. Seriously. My sister just…" I thought about what to say, and quickly added, "Called. She just called and said she was sick. I need to go pick her up." Sophie nodded, clearly relieved that I wasn't pregnant.

We both left the bathroom as the bell rang, echoing through the school. I wasn't worried about it, since I was leaving, but I heard Sophie utter a cuss word under her breath as she ran, waving back at me. I waved to her retreating figure.

I walked briskly to the front office. Not caring if the ladies stared at me for being late to class.

"My name's Alice Brandon. My sister's sick and I need to go pick her up. Can I sign out, please?" She tossed a clipboard at me, and I signed my name.

I ran out the front office door before exiting the school. I walked right up to the first parking spot, where my little yellow Porsche 911 Turbo was parked. It had been my sweet sixteen gift; it was my baby.

I climbed in and pulled out of the parking lot, which was completely deserted. I pulled to the left side of the middle school, which was right across the street from the high school, where I had seen Bella in my vision. This was the tricky part. How was I supposed to find a _very_ clumsy little fourteen-year-old in the woods?

It didn't take me long to figure out that Bella wasn't even in the woods yet. I saw her running-and tripping-towards the woods, as Blake walked away with the other girl's arm around him.

I saw the blood trickling down his face and I smiled. I wanted to run that little player over for hurting my sister, but I couldn't help but think, _That's my girl._ As he whined over his nose, which was hopefully broken. There was no doubt in my mind that he would get ridiculed for getting punched by a girl.

"Good riddance." I mumbled to myself as I got out of my car, making sure I locked it.

I ran quickly towards Bella. Even in my giant heels, I could beat her easily. I was fast, and I was graceful. Bella was neither.

I slowed as she slumped against a tree, still not seeing me. She finally looked up, tears streaked down her face. I stared sympathetically down at her pitiful face.

"A-A-Alice?" She whispered between sobs. I sat down beside her, leaning against the same tree. I didn't mind getting grass stains on my nice jeans; I could buy new ones this weekend.

I sighed, as she put her head on my shoulder.

"You know. This isn't exactly the most comfortable spot in all of Houston... I betcha Charlotte is a lot better than sitting in the grass." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes, which were still wet. "Charlotte" was the name she'd given my Porsche. It had stuck with us as our own personal joke.

"Yeah... Let's go." I got up from the ground, and helped her up as she wobbled, but didn't fall. She never fell while I was watching her, I made sure of that.

As we walked towards my car she sniffled.

"So... did you see me?" I smiled. Bella was the only person who I trusted enough to tell her about my "visions". I didn't want to be put in a padded room, so I didn't even trust my parents to think I _wasn't_ crazy. Bella, however, looked up to me like I could do no wrong, so she immediately trusted her when I told her that I could see the future.

"Of course. You know I see you better than anyone else." I smiled and took her hand. Bella had always taken pride in the fact that I could always see her future more than I saw anyone else's. My visions are kind of like the radio. I see them better when I'm more "tuned in" to someone.

"Did you see what happened?" She looked up at me, sheepishly. While she wasn't paying attention to her feet, she tripped, but I held her up without thinking about it.

"Yes, I did." I said, seriously. Then, with pride, I added. "I think you broke his nose." I smiled as she laughed. She shook her hand like it hurt, laughing again.

We piled into the Porsche and we drove in comfortable silence. Bella was never one for words. Really, we were exact opposites. Bella was shy, sweet, klutzy, and was pretty, but plain. I, on the other hand, was outgoing. People often couldn't get me to shut up. I was also very well known for my sharp features and looks.

But Bella and I were real best friends, unlike the posers at my school who claimed to be my friends. Bella never really fit in anywhere. I was surprised when she had excitedly told me of her new boyfriend, Blake. I hadn't had the heart to tell her that the boy was probably using her. That was another thing about Bella: She always trusted everyone.

I didn't trust the boy from the start, and I grimly realized that the "I told you so." speech wasn't going to cut it here, because I never had told her. I was guilty for that.

Bella didn't ask where I was going, because we both knew. I had dragged her to this place time after time; break-up after break-up. Though, most of the time _I _was the one who broke up with my boyfriends. Still, I always made the break-up an excuse to take my annual visit to this place with Bella. We both half-smiled at the familiarity of the sign that hung above the door: Baskin Robbins.

We ignored the stares of the passing guys, gawking at me and my car. Bella was used to this, as I was. One glanced at fleetingly Bella, who blushed at the attention. I felt the sudden urge to glare at the boys like a mother bear. I was very overprotective of my little sister.

I opened the door for Bella. She went to the cash register, already knowing what both of us would get.

"Two double-scoop, chocolate chip cookie dough ice creams in waffle cones, please." The guy who worked there remembered us immediately and had started getting our ice cream even before my sister had finished. I placed a hand protectively on her shoulder as the boys followed us in. They sat at a table nearby, still watching us.

We took our ice cream and I payed the man, leaving a few bucks in the tip jar. We sat down at a table as far away from the boys as possible. Still, we weren't far enough. The little ice cream shop probably wasn't big enough to even fit one of their egos.

I made sure that Bella sat so she was facing me, not the boys. This way, I could watch – and glare at - them. Bella blushed. She could feel their eyes on us, of that I was sure. I shot a glare their way.

Despite the annoyance at the other table, I didn't forget why we were here. Normally, I would be crying and telling my little sis exactly why all boys sucked and why I was never going out with anyone ever again... yeah, right, like that would ever happen.

Bella and I had some sort of quiet understanding today, however. I realized she knew he never really liked her, and that he took advantage of her. So, I decided, no pep talk was necessary. We sat in silence, enjoying our double scoops

We were_ ever so _rudely interrupted as one of the boys wolf-whistled. I could feel the anger rising in me. It was these kinds of egotistical, shallow low-life's that I couldn't stand. I was close to getting up from my seat and giving them a piece of my mind.

Unfortunately I didn't have to.

"Hey. Are you gonna buy something or not?" It was the worker. He did not sound very friendly. From what I could see behind his colorful apron, he was much more built than these guys, and probably a lot older.

They just looked dumbly at the worker's glare. One of them started to get up, and the other's followed suit quickly. They left without bothering us.

The worker sighed and sent us an apologetic smile. I smiled back, thankful but still peeved that I didn't get a whack at them.

Before we left, I slipped a twenty in the tip jar and said a quick thanks to him. Bella was silent, but unshaken.

"Sorry 'bout that." I muttered as we stepped in the Porsche.

"'S okay." She said quietly, as always. I smiled at her. She always understood me.

She looked nervously out the window as I drove, clearly over the speed limit. Bella didn't dare look at the speedometer anymore; she knew better than that. But I sensed that she was worried about what our parents would say when she got home.

"Not ready for the fireworks?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

She had that deer-in-the-headlights look to her.

I laughed. "Don't worry, sis. I gotcha covered. This might be your first time in trouble, but it's definitely not mine. I know how to handle it." She looked a bit more comfortable, but not by much. It was true, though. Bella never got in trouble. It was unheard of.

I kept this in mind as we pulled into the mansion that we called home. I parked right in front of the door and pulled Bella up to the door with me. I opened the door slowly, waiting for it.

We heard our mother before we saw her, "CYNTHIA ISABELLA MARIE BRANDON WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!"

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**If you don't remember, Alice told Bella in _New Moon_ that her name was Mary Alice Brandon, and she had a sister named Cynthia. So I decided to incorporate that in my story!**

**-TG**


	3. What did you see?

**Here's Chapter two! Hope you like it, and please review.**

**Chapter 2**

"Aww, mom. Why do you call me that?!" It surprised me when Bella said that. I wasn't expecting her to talk back at all. That was one thing Bella and I _did _have in common: We both hated our real names with a passion.

Our mother was equally surprised at the outburst. "Uh. It's your name…" I guess she forgot how angry she was from the shock.

"I know, but can't you call me Bella? That's at least suitable." I was still in shock, and apparently so was our mother. It was true though; "Cynthia" and "Mary Alice" were horrible names, in our opinions.

Many times Bella and I would joke and say that we were left out of some sick, twisted joke when our mother named us.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Cynthia is perfectly suitable." Mom added. Bella and I scoffed at the same time.

"Are you kidding?" At first I thought I had said it, because that was exactly what I'd been thinking. I then realized that Bella had said it. I was in awe. Bella had never talked back to anyone before. _Huh. _I thought. _I guess the teenager in her had to come out someday._

I laughed at the thought, which made Bella and my mother both look at me. I put on an innocent face, and my mother looked away.

"Ok, never mind that. Explain to me why your school called saying you didn't show up for class?" She had that look today; like she was ready to scold. I was prepared to defend Bella, but found that it wasn't needed.

"Blake cheated on me." And that was all she had to say. Bella's lip protruded just a little and she gave those sad puppy dog eyes. For a minute, I fell for it.

Before I knew what was happening, my mother's face twisted to a guilty expression. "Oh… well. I'm so sorry, sweetie."

"It's ok, mom. Ali already took me to get ice cream." My mother wasn't ignorant of our ritual. I just doubted that she'd ever see the day where we went for Bella instead of me.

"Oh. Well, Alice, you shouldn't have left school either. You both should be getting back now…" Bella and I both groaned in protest.

"Come on mom! Can't we stay just for the day?" Bella pleaded.

"It's the first day!" She argued.

"Yes it is. And that's all the more reason to stay home. Nothing ever happens on the first day." I said as Bella gave her that irresistible puppy dog look. Our mother sighed in defeat and walked away.

Bella and I gave each other high-fives behind her back. I pulled her upstairs and into my room. We both changed into sweats and I held up my designer jeans, analyzing the damage. There were a few minor grass stains on the butt, but they looked easy enough to wash. I overlooked that part, though, and took the opportunity.

"Bells, this weekend we're going shopping." It was an order, not a suggestion. Bella groaned. She absolutely detested shopping. Sometimes, I really doubted she was my actual sister. There was no way anyone who was related to me-or even knew me-could hate shopping.

"Do we absolutely have to?" She said, already knowing my answer.

"Yes. You're aloud to look all mopey and sad this week, but by next Monday you need to look not only like you're over him, but also like you're already with someone else." Bella shrugged indifferently like she didn't care, which she probably didn't.

"Sometimes I wish you hadn't made us so rich." She said in a matter-of-fact tone. I looked at her as if she had just committed a murder. I hit her with a fluffy pillow from my bed. This was another one of our little secrets from our parents.

One of my very first visions was in sixth grade, when our family was still middle classed citizens. Our parents had been into the stock market and I happened to see a raise. I had changed their stocks without telling them, and, before they knew it, I'd turned them into millionaires. Of course, I never told them that I was the reason they were living the high life.

The shopping sprees and Turby made up for my modesty though.

"Hey!" She said in response to the pillow. "I'm not Alice Brandon." She reminded me of that. I knew that, of course, but what she was trying to say was that she wasn't like me.

"No, you're Cynthia Brandon." She winced at the name.

"Please don't call me that." She said, looking like she had sucked on a lemon lately.

"Make me." I challenged. She stared at me for a minute deciding whether or not to do it. I guess she decided against it, because she put her face down on the bed.

"I don't make trash, I burn it." She said against the covers. I laughed. This was our inside joke.

"Ooh. Help me. I need some ice for that burn." I said sarcastically as she laughed. Then she sprung from the bed at me, tackling me down. We were tickling each other and laughing uncontrollably.

We ended up next to each other on the floor, holding our sides as we laughed.

We sat on my king-sized bed and watched a chick-flick marathon for the rest of the day.

Eventually we had fallen asleep next to each other, after crying together through the end of _Titanic_ for the millionth time.

I woke to the sound of my phone ringing beside me on my night stand. Looking down at the screen, I realized it was my boyfriend, Chris. I sighed, waking up Bella as I moved around.

I pushed the screen up and pressed it to my ear.

"Hello?" I said while yawning.

"Just wake up?" He asked in his deep voice.

"Yeah… I was taking a nap."

"M'kay. So where were you today? I didn't see you at school."

"Yeah, I had to go pick my sister up early."

"Oh. Ok. So do you have plans this weekend?"

"Um, yeah. I'm going shopping in Houston with my sis."

"Against my will." Bella added sleepily into the phone.

Chris laughed on the other end. But I didn't notice. As soon as Bella spoke I felt another vision coming. I dropped the phone and Bella looked up at me, worried. She knew what was happening but she was curious as to what I was seeing.

_Bella and I walked down the street, shopping bags in hand. Bella looked beat from the long day we had. I chattered to her and she nodded in response. We turned down an alley. It was a shortcut we often took while we were in Houston._

_We both stopped in our tracks as we saw a woman in the alley. It was night, but I could clearly see her pale skin in the darkness. I couldn't help but notice how incredibly gorgeous this woman was. Now that I realized it, she was barely a woman. She looked about my age. She smiled towards me and I couldn't help but smile back. _

_Before I knew what was happening, she sprung from where she was standing, landing on my sister quicker than I thought possible. I didn't know what was happening. I couldn't see past the girl's body, to see what was happening to Bella._

"_NO!"_

"NO!" I screamed, now back to reality.

"What did you see?" Bella asked with fear in her voice.

"Um…" I had to think quickly. I couldn't scare Bella with what I saw. "A girl was… trying to beat me to a designer pair of jeans." I tried to sound convincing. As Bella's face turned to a mocking glare, I was thankful for Bella's trust in everyone, especially me.

"Wow. All of that just for a pair of jeans." She muttered.

I decided to play along, "These weren't _just_ jeans, Bells. They were awesome! I had to have them. I wish I'd seen what store it was…" She smiled up at me. I remembered then what my vision had actually been about and added. "You know, you don't have to go shopping with me. I could get a killer outfit for you and surprise you with it."

I was worried about my own safety as well, but there was a burning curiosity that made me want to go to Houston still, but without Bella. I couldn't stand it if she got hurt. There was some part of me, however, that felt like I had to go to Houston.

"Are you sure?" She was clearly shocked. I'd never let her off the hook before like this. I'd always dragged her shopping with me.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll get Sophie to go, or I'll go by myself."

"Ok, then. By the way, I hung up the phone for you after you blanked… you'll have to explain that to Chris."

"I don't think I will. I have to break up with him sooner or later. He's getting too needy for me." Bella rolled her eyes at my nonchalance about it.

As we fell back asleep, I was haunted in my dreams. I couldn't stand the thought of Bella getting hurt, yet the vision kept replaying in my head.


	4. Crash of Thunder

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all the characters!**

**Chapter 3**

I casually checked my makeup in the rearview mirror. I told myself it was because I was going 'out on the town' – even if it was just shopping. But deep down I knew that wasn't it. I was edgy, irrationally edgy. Like the feeling you get when you wake up nervous, even before you remember final exams are today.

I drove fast; windows down a little, even on the highway. I let myself enjoy the feeling of the wind picking up strands of my hair and tossing them around. I smiled. The wind-blow look was sexy, and I had a brush in case of an emergency.

Despite my edgy feeling, I was really nervous. Not for myself, but for Bella. I wouldn't be able to stand it if she got hurt, so I hope she listened to me about the warning I had given her before I left.

_Flashback_

_I had my purse in hand and I was mentally checking to see if I had everything I needed; Money, make-up, cell phone, brush..._

_I looked up as Bella came down the elegant curving staircase. She was still in her red flannel pajama pants and baggy t-shirt that she slept in every night. She smiled at me sleepily. Her hair was a complete mess with strands sticking out every which way._

_I laughed at her and she glared back. I turned her around to face the large decorative mirror in the hallway. She glanced at her reflection and shrugged, not caring. I took the brush out of my purse and began brushing it. She yawned as I pulled through the tangled mess. _

"_Hope you get the life-changing pair of jeans today, sis." I smiled as I remembered my fake vision. _

"_Yeah... And I'll get you that killer outfit, too."_

"_Alright." _

"_Will you do me a favor today, Bells?" I said quickly- too quickly, I might add. Bella would know something was up... or not. She looked tired, since she was still half asleep, and her brain probably wasn't on the alert yet._

"_Your wish is my command." She said, seriously. I laughed again, trying to lighten the mood a little._

"_Okay, then. Will you stay here today?" I said hesitantly. I hoped she wouldn't press the issue of why I was asking this, but it was very unlikely._

"_Yeah, where else would I stay?" She said sarcastically._

"_No, I mean don't go out today. Just stay home for today." I pushed on, hoping the urgency in my voice would hint at out nervous I actually was to make sure she was safe._

"_Okay, I won't." She said beneath a yawn. "Darn it, I had a hot date today. Oh well, I guess Orlando Bloom will have to wait for me." She added with a smile. I laughed at that._

"_Oh, I'm so sorry for your loss. You'll have to tell Orly to take a rain check."_

"_It's okay. I'll just watch _Pirates of the Carribean _with my face really close to the screen... It'll be like he's there with me!" I laughed again, and she joined in. I loved my sister's sarcastic sense of humor._

"_I got to go, but you'll listen to me and stay here, right?" She nodded as she headed back up to her room. I just hope that she would..._

_End Flashback_

She would be OK. I had taken steps to make sure – likely as not, she would watch a Pirates marathon – and that was all I could do. OK, I was lying to myself again. I could go home and stalk her all day and make sure nothing happened, and she still might get in some kind of trouble... that was just Bella. She is a danger magnet, I swear. At least she was less likely to get into trouble if I was with her...

But every time my thoughts went in that direction, something deep inside me pulled. Tugging me towards Houston. I'd just have to be content that Bella would stay home if I asked her to. I edged the car faster.

I circled around my favorite strand of shops, looking for a place to park. My vision had taken place at night. It would be a shame to waste a perfectly good day of shopping and Starbucks drinking. Though I seriously doubted I would get any shopping done, I pushed down the urge to go to the alley just yet and parked the car. I rolled enough coins to get me through the day into the parking meter, and then adjusted my Chanel sun glasses. I took a deep breath and headed straight for the shoe store.

Even though I did find a killer pair of jeans, and a cute top for Bella (Which she probably would never wear, unless I forced her to), the day seemed to drag on and on, like the class period right before lunch. Finally I headed back toward my car, grabbing a hot chocolate at Starbucks instead of my usual non-fat, caramel soy latte. I was already too nervous without the caffeine.

As I approached the car, it was getting really dark. _Perfect, _I thought to myself. Normally, a girl my age would be terrified to be in a quiet part of the city, in the dark, but I wasn't. I made a motion to open the door, but I stopped. I popped the trunk and shoved my shopping bags in quickly. I left the car and started walking towards the alley. I was way too anxious to sit in my Porsche for the drive.

The sun had disappeared almost completely and now it was twilight. I knew that by the time I reached the alley, it would be completely dark. I walked quickly, almost running. The alley was in my sights and I was a block away. I was practically sprinting, when I stopped dead in my tracks. Two men had just rounded the corner a block ahead of me. The alleyway was behind them.

I glanced quickly behind me, judging how far away from my car I was, but still not wanting to turn around. I _had_ to see what was in that Alley. I saw another two men round the corner behind me. _Great,_ I thought. _I probably wasn't even going to find anything in that alley anyway... Yet, here I am being herded by possible rapists. _

That's exactly what they were doing: Herding me. The men behind me walked quicker since they were farther away from me Without thinking, I ran into and alley that was next to me. My heart dropped in disappointment as I stared at the dead end in front of me. I turned back, but all four men were crowding the exit already. I was a sitting duck.

If I hadn't been afraid before, I was now. They were approaching me slowly, not quite in the small alleyway yet. I backed until my hands were touching the brick wall behind me. I pleaded silently. _God, let someone come... anyone: Police, firemen, random guy off the street..._

My wish was granted.

Suddenly I heard an ear-splitting growl and- before I knew what was happening -the men disappeared. I ran out of the alley, trying to see what happened. All my bodily systems were telling me to run, but I couldn't stray my eyes away from the horrifying scene in front of me.

All four men were lying dead in the streets. A dark-haired woman had her mouth to one of their necks and a man was in the same position with another.

"Jesus, Jasper, were you thirsty? You took three of them!" A sickeningly sweet voice bellowed. It was high-pitched and almost sounded like a little girl's voice. I immediately recognized her as the woman who attacked Bella in my vision. She walked over oh-so gracefully to the other two.

The trio were all so pale they seemed to be glowing, and I noticed how gracefully the other woman walked up to the two. What was immediately obvious though was there remarkably, inhuman beauty. They were all perfect. I'd never seen anyone as beautiful as the girl. I couldn't clearly see the other two, since they were still crouched over my attackers, but I could see that they were just as beautiful as this girl.

The man- who I now realized was just a boy, probably my age -stood up, wiping his blood-stained mouth on the back of his hand.

"What can I say? There lust didn't help one bit..." He said in a matter-of-fact tone. I stared on I horror. I let out a slow breath, which I hadn't realized I'd been holding. The very instant I made a sound, all three heads turned my way, revealing blood-red eyes that pierced through me. Before I could even blink, the boy was in front of me.

The speed at which it must have taken to get over to me was so fast that it couldn't have been possible.

He was so close to me now we were practically touching. He reached out towards my narrow waste with both hands, but he hesitantly took a half step back, looking confused. I didn't comprehend his expression, however, because I was staring at him in awe.

Looking up at the red eyes that hovered over me, I was mesmerized. His golden hair hung messily in his face, and I was in love. I didn't know how I knew it, but there was no doubting it, either. I was in love with him, no matter what I'd just seen him do. He could be a monster, but I didn't care. And as he leaned towards me, I wasn't sure if he was going to kiss me or kill me. But I didn't care.

"It's almost as if... I don't _want_ to kill you..." He said, more to himself than to me. I felt his breath in my ear as he whispered. It made me shiver, but more from excitement than from fright. He was as far away from me as possible, while still holding me in between his hands, which rested on my hips. He held me like he was afraid of breaking me. I relished the tingling feeling that his touch brought, afraid that he would let go of me. _It was heaven—right smack in the middle of hell. (New Moon Page 491)_

I thought quietly about what he said. I didn't mind if he killed me, really. At least I could die in his arms.

"Then don't." I barely even whispered the words, but I knew he could hear me.

"Hmm..." He said curiously. "You're not even afraid. How strange."

I was taken back. How did he know how I was feeling?

"How would you know that?" I voice my thoughts, surprisingly sounding confident. Unlike my sister (who's name escaped me, since I was stilling looking up into the boy's eyes), my voice didn't betray my every emotion. Thank God for that.

He laughed humorlessly, "Let's just say I have a 'gift' for that sort of thing." He smirked, almost smug. I looked at him, memorizing every curve of his perfect face. That had been the first time I'd payed attention to what his voice sounded like. It was so... _beyond utterly amazing._ It was smooth as velvet and every word he said etched itself in my memory.

"You're not the only one..." I said mysteriously. I didn't know why I said it, but I did. I wanted to tell him everything about myself for some reason. I couldn't answer the questions that was rattling in my head: Why was this one boy so special? Why _did _I want to reveal all my secrets to him?

He raised one eyebrow at my comment. Though his face was twisted in that awkward position, he was still tantalizingly gorgeous in a way that would make Abercrombie Models jealous.

"Finish her, Jasper, so we can go." Said a deeper woman's voice. It held authority and I could tell she was the leader of the small group.

"I don't know Maria... I think she might have potential. You think we should-" The boy- who I believed to be Jasper -said, getting cut off by the high-pitched voice of the other girl.

"Jasper! Finish her, or I will!" The girl seemed to be shaking with eagerness at the thought. It made me sick to my stomach watching her.

I heard a snarl emit from Jasper that didn't sound at all human... more like an animal. Still, it didn't frighten me in the least.

"Quiet Nettie! You won't touch her, she's mine!" I quietly cheered and relished over his words: _She's mine. _That sounded great every time I repeated the words in my head.

"Jasper, you know we only take men, she won't do us any good." Said the authoritative woman, passively and calmly. She was much more calm then the other girl.

"I think she would. She says she has a gift like mine..." I saw Maria's eyes perk up considerably when he said that. She started walking towards us slowly. I realized that Jasper still had his hands on my waste. He hastily backed away from me- but not far -as Maria approached.

"Is this true?" I nodded hastily, hoping this could somehow help me. "Well, what could possibly be _your_ power." She sounded incredulous, though I didn't know why.

I let my annoyance spread to my face and I clenched my fists. "I can see the future, what's _your _power?" I said confidently. An amused smirk lighted her face and Jasper looked surprised- but still magnificent, I might add.

"Jasper can just manipulate and sense emotions; an empath. But _my _power? Well, you see, I'm your worst nightmare..." She trailed off ominously, and I scoffed towards her. Suddenly she disappeared. "Don't believe me?" She whispered in my ear. I could feel her behind me suddenly. I wasn't phased, though. I knew they were incredibly fast.

"I'm what you've had in your nightmares every time you see one of those pathetically incorrect scary movies of yours; I'm the predator to your prey..." The way her velvet voice flowed over the words made it seem more like beautiful poetry than something to scare me. Despite my lack of fear, I felt a chill crawl up my spine and shake my body.

I saw Jasper unconsciously move toward me, as if to comfort me, but Maria stopped him. She looked angry that I wasn't crawling in fear right now.

"You still haven't told me exactly what you are yet." I said lightly, tapping my foot impatiently against the ground. Anything they said wouldn't surprise me.

She laughed maniacally. "Let's just say that no matter what we decide to do, your blood is going to be flowing down one of our throats very, _very _soon." Okay, so maybe that surprised me.

I felt my eyes widen and my mouth drop considerably, and Maria took that as fear. The- what I now knew to be a vampire -grinned triumphantly at me.

"You know- if you value your insignificant life whatsoever, then you might want to conjure up some proof of your little 'gift'" This scared me slightly. I couldn't control my power, it just came to me. Luckily, I didn't have to wait. I felt a vision coming over me.

I watched it quickly take place, and then saw Maria and Jasper's faces again. They were both looking at me expectantly.

I smirked with confidence and slight fear of about what was about to proceed.

"If _you _value my significant life- or my awesome power, whichever is better- then you might want to turn around." Maria looked surprised and turned around quickly. I watched over her shoulder as Nettie shook with anticipation.

"H-how can you just stand there like that! She's right there!" Nettie threw herself towards me, over the two other vampires. I felt her on top of me, tackling me down effortlessly. My head knocked against the hard ground, but didn't bleed. She exposed her teeth- which were dripping with venom -and lowered her head quickly to my neck.

The last thing I heard was a crash of thunder.


	5. Humans are so fragile

**Hey! Sorry it's taken a while for me to update, but I was trying to work out the logistics of this whole thing with my co-author and my beta. _Whew, _it's been a lot of work. I won't bore you with details, though. **

**To make up for updating so slowly, I have written three new chapters (including this one). My beta is currently working on the other two, bless her. I kind of loaded her with all this work and just piled three new chapters up for her to do. I will have the next chapter up _very _soon. It's a shorter one, but it will be quickly followed by chapter 6, and that chapter does not- in my opinion -disappoint! Be excited, be very excited. **

**(By the way, this is the same chapter as the previous, but in a different POV. But read it, because it reveals what happens!)**

**Jasper POV**

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I ran with Lucy, Nettie, and Maria at my side. I was way too eager for just hunting... actually _I _wasn't so eager; it was Nettie. The excitement rolling off of Nettie in waves was almost sickening. If she knew how her victims felt like I did, she wouldn't be quite as ecstatic. I loathed my gift sometimes. It was often a burden when living the way I do. It's hard to think of humans as food and not intelligent beings when I could feel the curiosity when they saw me, so beautiful, so interesting. But they were wary as well. They knew subconsciously that I was dangerous, something to be feared, but their overwhelming curiosity often got the better of them as they stared on. Then, as I closed in on them for the kill, I felt their fright. It was almost unbearable feeling that range of emotion every time I was the least bit thirsty.

Nettie, Lucy, and Maria were never hesitant when they preyed upon innocent, weakling humans. They never felt the least bit guilty at taking the lives of innocent people. I would never tell them how it sickened me every time I had to stare into the frightened eyes of my prey and feel them die. They would think I was weak if I told them how I truly felt.

"Nettie, Lucy, you take the south side of the territory, Jasper and I will take the north." Maria said, stopping suddenly. I felt Lucy's boredom, Nettie's maximized eagerness, and Maria's affections for me as she looked at me. Maria had had feelings for me for over a hundred years now, but I'd never reciprocated. She knew I never would. That disappointed her, but she accepted it.

I couldn't stand another moment of Nettie's excitement, so I took Maria's calm feeling and spread it towards the whole group.

Nettie snarled at me recognizing my power's effects. "Jazzy! I love hunting, don't be such a downer!"

I breathed deeply, trying to calm myself. Nettie's anger fused with excitement was really getting to me. "Don't call me that," I said quickly, hating the nickname. "Also, I can't _stand_ your enthusiasm...it's getting to me."

"What's the problem with that? A little excitement never killed anyone..." Nettie squealed like a school girl. She was shaking in place and jumping up and down so quickly that she was a vibrating blur.

"There's always a first..." I muttered spitefully. Nettie annoyed me to no end. I sent out another wave of calm, which settled her down enough that she stopped jumping and settled on shaking. She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. I sighed and looked towards Lucy pleadingly. Lucy was the only person who could calm her down. My powers weren't even enough for that.

"Let's go Nettie, I'm thirsty." Lucy stated in a bored tone, grabbing Nettie by the arm. Nettie squealed again in happiness and ran towards the southern border of the territory.

Out of the covens that ran the greater Houston area, we had the largest expanse of territory, thanks to our large army of Newborns that we were constantly replenishing and my superior war tactics. I was Maria's pride. She often said how the day she created me was the best decision she'd ever made. If not for me, she and the other two girls probably wouldn't be half as successful as they were. The newborns never questioned my authority either, which came in handy. My gift for manipulating emotions was also useful when the newborns got out of line, which was often.

"Come on, Jasper." Maria said, starting to run in the opposite direction. I followed loyally, listening carefully and sniffing the air for a human scent. Finally, I heard a slowly beating heart and smelled the human blood.

I was surprised that Maria ignored the scent, pushing further on towards the edge of the border. I wasn't about to let a meal pass by. I located the source of the scent; a homeless man sleeping on the ground in an alley.

I quickly drained him, not allowing enough time for him to wake up. If he wasn't conscious, then I didn't have to feel his emotions.

"Why waste your time on that trash? There's bound to be something more appetizing around..." Maria said. She had stopped about fifty feet ahead, waiting for me. I crossed the distance easily in a few seconds and we were off again. I was hit with the scent of five humans. "That's more like it." Maria said greedily while speeding off ahead to feed. I quickened my pace, catching up with her easily.

As I got closer to the potential victims, I felt their emotions clearly. I saw four men standing at the entrance of an alleyway. Their feelings hit me like a brick wall as I sprinted towards them, and all I could feel for a few moments was pure, unrequited lust. The feeling was so great that it maximized _my_ blood-lust ten fold.

Before I knew what was happening, I pummeled ahead of Maria tackling the four men. As I made contact with them, they flew a good fifty feet ahead. As soon as they made contact with the ground, they were dead. _Humans are so fragile..._ I thought deviously to myself.

I drained half of the men of blood before Maria even caught up. She was drinking from one of them and I was draining the last of the four when I heard the high-pitched voice that I loathed; Nettie.

"Jesus, Jasper, were you thirsty? You took three of them!" She said mockingly. I actually hadn't been all that thirsty. It was their lust that made me so ruthless. I hadn't even realized that I'd only left one for Maria.

"What can I say? Their lust didn't help one bit..." I said truthfully, though I doubted that Nettie would understand what it was like. I felt a little guilty for leaving so little for Maria, but she didn't feel angry at me, just satisfied from her meal. I still smelled human blood, but I shook it off. It was probably just an intensified memory from just eating.

Then I heard it; the slightest breath. It hadn't come from any of us. I looked quickly over to my left at the same time as Nettie and Lucy. A girl, probably about seventeen or eighteen, stood there frozen in place under our stares. I could feel her fear and awe.

I quickly approached her, ready to take her too, not caring if Nettie or Maria wanted her. I closed the distance between us in less than a second. I reached out towards her waist, trying to bring her closer to me. As my hands brushed her hips ever so slightly I looked up into her warm brown eyes. I took a step back in shock.

The very moment that I touched her, her fear had disappeared and was replaced by another feeling. It flowed from her very being, and as I felt it I instantly felt warm and happy and _right. _I recognized the feeling, but it had never been this strong before. It was... _love? _I was insanely confused. I hadn't said a word to this little human girl, but the moment our eyes met, a feeling overwhelmed me. I wasn't even sure if it was her that it was coming from. The feeling didn't come from one specific person; it was more like _our _feeling.

I leaned towards her slowly, not quite sure of what I was going to do. She didn't move from the position she was in. I didn't feel any fear coming from her at all, which was strange. She was so close to me, closer than I'd ever been to any human that had lived. I felt the venom pooling in my mouth, and my instincts were telling me to finish her. I didn't want to kill her though... I didn't want to see her face go pale and lifeless, and I didn't want to see her warm, chocolate eyes ever close.

"It's almost as if... I don't _want_ to kill you..." I thought aloud. At first I wasn't even sure I had said it out loud, but I felt her emotions respond. Suddenly she was _excited, _but I still felt that loving feeling linger behind it_. _I had no idea how she could possibly be excited about the prospect of me killing her. She was definitely not the average human.

"Then don't." She said quietly, and I swooned at the innocent sound of her voice. It was a high pitched sound, but it wasn't like Nettie's sharp, high-pitched shrill. Her voice was beautiful, like the tinkling of bell chimes. She said the words with conviction, but I internally laughed. _If only it were that easy... _I thought, pondering her words.

It amazed me how she was not afraid of me, as most humans naturally were. I voiced my thought to her, wanting to tell her everything about me for some odd reason. "Hmm..." I said, still thinking about her in amazement. "You're not even afraid. How strange."

But strange wasn't the right word for her; it was too negative a concept. She was more like pleasantly surprising, but even that wasn't enough to describe her. I felt her surprise at my statement.

"How would you know that?" She said confidently, but almost sounded playful, like she was teasing me. I laughed without humor at her words.

I thought about how I was going to answer her question... I couldn't just say _Oh yeah, I'm an empath. I can feel and manipulate your every emotion. _She would think I was crazy if I said that. I settled with simply saying, "Let's just say I have a 'gift' for that sort of thing." I waited for her reaction.

"You're not the only one..." She said mysteriously. I raised my eyebrow curiously at her statement. How could she even be even more interesting? But here she was, so interesting and so shrouded in mystery.

I suddenly felt a surge of envy wash over me. Then I remembered Maria's presence. Though she seemed calm to the eye, she was surging with jealousy towards the girl standing in front of me.

"Finish her, Jasper, so we can go." I cringed internally. I didn't want to kill this girl, though the venom in my mouth was telling me differently. For saying so, I wanted to attack Maria. I didn't know why I was so defensive of this human girl...

I tried to defend the girl. "I don't know Maria... I think she might have potential. You think we should-"

"Jasper! Finish her, or I will!" Nettie said desperately. I snarled towards her, trying to sound territorial and not defensive. Then I regretted doing it, in fear that it would frighten the girl. I was relieved when it didn't phase her in the least.

"Quiet, Nettie! You won't touch her, she's mine!" I yelled. As the words left my mouth I relished the feeling of saying the last two words: _She's mine. _It sounded ridiculously great coming from me.

"Jasper, you know we only take men, she won't do us any good." Maria said, her voice not betraying the jealousy she was feeling. Despite the truth of her words, I knew that that wasn't the real reason she wouldn't change this girl. I doubted she wanted this girl to be anywhere near me. I tried to think of any excuse to keep her with me and remembered the girl's previous statement. _You're not the only one..._

"I think she would. She says she has a gift like mine..." I silently hoped that her words were true. Maria was curious, but her jealousy still reigned in her emotions. As she approached us, I remembered that my hands were still on the girl's hips. Though I didn't want to let go whatsoever, I wasn't going to push Maria in hope that she would be fair and let her stay with us. I took a few steps back to give them both some space.

"Is this true?" Maria asked, her feelings incredulous. "Well, what could possibly be your power?" Her words were meant to be malicious, and it made me even more defensive of the girl.

She felt suddenly annoyed and I saw her tiny fists clench together. I wanted to laugh at how ridiculously cute she looked. "I can see the future, what's _your _power?" She said confidently. I was surprised that a human could have such an amazing power, and I hoped Maria would consider her.

"Jasper can just manipulate and sense emotions; an empath. But _my _power? Well, you see, I'm your worst nightmare..." She trailed off ominously, but the girl just scoffed in disbelief. I silently glared at Maria for telling the girl my power. Maria quickly ran behind the girl, showing off her speed in an attempt to scare her. "Don't believe me?" Maria whispered in her ear, too close for my liking. I grinned triumphantly inside as I didn't feel her annoyed emotions change to fear at all.

Inside Maria was disappointed, but she didn't stop in her efforts. "I'm what you've had in your nightmares every time you see one of those pathetically incorrect scary movies of yours; I'm the predator to your prey..." I didn't like her choice of words at all. Though I didn't feel fear coming from her at all, I saw her shake with a silent chill. I took an unconscious step forward, wanting to comfort her in some way, but Maria stopped me by getting in my way. Maria was very angry that the girl wasn't afraid.

"You still haven't told me exactly what you are yet," she said lightly, tapping her foot impatiently against the ground. It was so cute that I almost wanted to laugh.

Maria laughed maniacally, clearly consumed by her anger towards this girl. "Let's just say that no matter what we decide to do, your blood is going to be flowing down one of our throats very, _very _soon." I felt a growl rise in my throat, but I pushed it away. She didn't have to put it so vilely, even if it was true. I realized with disappointment that her words were true; either Maria was going to change her, or use her as a meal. I wouldn't let the latter happen if I could help it.

I saw her eyes widen and her mouth drop in surprise- not fear- but Maria took that as fear. She grinned triumphantly.

"You know- if you value your insignificant life whatsoever, then you might want to conjure up some proof of your little 'gift'," Now I felt a little fear coming from her, ever so slightly. It made me want to comfort her in some way, but I couldn't. Suddenly, I saw her tense and her eyes become cloudy. I really hoped that she was seeing the future, for her sake. Maria and I watched her for about a minute as she remained still. When she finally came to, I was looking at her hopefully and expectantly.

She smirked, but I knew that she was slightly more afraid.

"If _you _value my significant life- or my awesome power, whichever it may be - then you might want to turn around." I turned around quickly, at the same time as Maria. Nettie was behind us about five feet, shaking in excitement and blood lust.

"H-how can you just stand there like that! She's right there!" Nettie threw herself towards the girl, over Maria and I. Nettie tackled her to the ground, and I silently thanked any God that was available that she didn't bleed. I wouldn't have been able to stand it if she did. I watched in horror as she lowered her head to the girl's neck, as I felt a sort of regret pass from the girl.

Without thinking about what I was doing, I tackled Nettie. Our bodies crashed with a thunderous boom. We flew for about twenty feet, before I pinned her to the wall behind us. She was fighting me wildly, her eyes flying towards the girl's body. She had a little blood on her teeth as she growled in defeat.

"Need some help?" I heard someone ask in a bored tone. Lucy had appeared by my side.

I looked at her gratefully and muttered, "Yes. Take Nettie away from here." I said it quietly. Lucy silently took Nettie from my grasp and restrained her as she walked her away.

"I'll meet you guys back at camp." Lucy said towards Maria. Maria nodded, looking towards the girl who was lying on the ground dismally. I think she'd been knocked unconscious by the fall.

I walked forward quickly kneeling to the ground beside the girl. Maria sighed, shaking her head as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You should've just let Nettie finish it."

I hated the way she called the girl an "it".

"Oh well, it's too late now." I silently cheered at that fact, thankful that we wouldn't have to kill her. "There's too much venom to finish her now, so we might as well just wait out her change." I looked over the girl's still body hopefully, glad that I was going to get to see her again.

"Carry her back to camp. We don't want her here when the screams start." But just as Maria said that, the girl's body shook and a scream erupted from her mouth. I quickly picked her up effortlessly, though I was in pain, too. I could feel the pain radiating from her, since no other feeling was present in her body. It hurt me greatly, but I persistently ran her in the direction of our headquarters.

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**Please review! I want to get up to... let's say 15? Yes. If we can get to 15, I promise I'll give that fifteenth reviewer a preview of the future chapters (May be subject to change, since everything after chapter 6 is in rough format. But still, it's a preview!)**

**-TG**


	6. Share her Pain

**_IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ_**

**_OK, just to let everyone know, this was not edited by my beta. So if there are a few mistakes, please understand. I haven't been able to communicate with my beta, but I really wanted to get you guys at least a chapter more before Breaking Dawn comes out. I'm not going to be posting after tonight because I don't want a spolier to ruin the book for me. _**

**_I will try my best to get chapter 6 out today as well. But! If you review and tell me to update today, it might encourage me more... hint hint_**

**_Btw, only one more review until fifteen! Yay! You guys did awesome! I will still give that next reviewer a preview, so hurry, it could be you! (Just to let you know, I very much appreciate anonymous reviews, but if you submit anonymously as the fifteenth reviewer, then I can't send you the preview. Sorry!)_**

**_FOR ALL OF YOU WHO THINK ALICE IS TOO STUCK UP: Trust me when I say that her superficiality is not her problem. I contribute whetever selfishness she has shown to her life so far: Full of posers who are after her popularity and money. The only real, true friend Alice has ever had is her sister, and- if you notice -she's a lot more selfless around Bella. You will see a lot of changes in her now that the circumstances have changed. _**

**_Know this as well (a little bit of a preview): _Her unwavering self_less_ness could possibly lead to her downfall... **

**Laughs diabolically I've got some secrets up my sleeve. **

**Hope you read the whole Author's not, because it's important**

**-TG**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own it...**

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**Chapter 5**

**(Still in Jasper's POV)**

I carried the girl desperately towards the camp, feeling her pain in every step, but never faltering. I had passed Maria a long while ago, but I wasn't waiting for her. I finally reached the dark forest past the outskirts of Houston where our army secretly presided, currently being monitored by the lead newborn.

Finally I saw our camp, if you could really call it that. As soon as I stepped foot in the small clearing, every gleaming red pair of eyes turned towards me; towards the scent of human blood. I gave all of the newborns a warning glance that screamed 'if you touch her, I'll kill you." and turned towards Thomas, the lead newborn. He was a young one- only sixteen -but he showed the most promise out of the lot. I was a good eye for talent. He often helped me settle the newborns, and he watched after them while Maria, Lucy, Nettie, and I were out hunting. Hunting with the newborns is a full time job, so we always did our hunting separately.

"New recruit, sir?" Thomas asked, eying the woman in my arms. His expression was questioning, probably at the gender of my current "recruit". He stayed where he was, so he wouldn't be as tempted.

"Yes, Thomas. I'm taking her to the tent. You watch them. Don't let any of them step foot near that tent." I said with authority. "If they do…" Thomas saluted me and returned to his post. I ran to the one tent that we had, which was only used to hold the newborns during their change.

I placed her lightly on the floor of the tent, tying down her ankles and wrists with leather straps that were strong enough to hold her for the first two days of her transformation. This way, she wouldn't hurt herself with her new found strength. I sat beside her on the tent floor, intent on not leaving her side.

As she screamed again, I felt her pain coursing through me. I didn't want to leave her side, but the pain was almost unbearable. I would handle it though, because I felt like I could never leave her side again.

Normally, I would stay clear of the tent during transformations. The pain was too much, and I'd never felt this obligated to stay here. Her case was different however. In some ways, I felt responsible for her change and liable for all the pain she was feeling. Though I hadn't even bitten her, I felt like I deserved to share her pain. I was a stupid, masochistic vampire, but I knew exactly what I was doing.

Maria entered the tent, looking down apathetically towards the girl. _The girl, _I thought remorsefully. _I didn't even get her name. What if she doesn't remember it?_ I wish I'd been smart enough to ask her name the moment I saw her, but I didn't. I was far too mesmerized by her and all of her emotions to even think about her name.

I heard Maria walk around the little tent, but I didn't even pretend to pay attention to her. "You shouldn't be here. It's too much for you." Maria stated looking towards me. It sounded more like an order than a suggestion, but I completely disregarded it. Normally, her authority was unwavering, but I wasn't leaving. I shook my head, not wanting speech to reveal the awesome pain I was feeling. She cocked an eyebrow at my refusal, but I ignored it. I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my head on my knees, closing my eyes through the burning feeling in my whole body.

"Your funeral." She said quickly while leaving the tent. I couldn't help but laugh at that. _Yeah, right. If only it were that easy._ This kind of pain wouldn't kill me, though the burning feeling in my chest felt like I might have been cut to pieces and set aflame.

Hours passed slowly as I watched and felt her pain. Every now and then Lucy or Maria would come in to check on me, trying to relieve me of my post. I would just shake my head, never taking my eyes of the girl's fragile, trembling body.

As more hours passed I noticed subtle changes in her appearance; her hair was growing darker and her face was getting paler and more defined. For the first few hours her heart was beating increasingly faster, pumping the venom throughout her body while it slowly took over.

Her body was shaking with pain and her forehead was breaking with sweat at the burning that both she and I were feeling. I hesitantly placed my hand on her forehead, knowing that the ice cold temperature of my skin would momentarily soothe her. I felt the pain subside minimally as I touched her, and her shaking stopped for a brief moment. I was glad that I could at least do this much for her. While I still could, I relished the warmth of her skin.

It had been about 42 hours; almost two days. In a few hours I'd have to remove the leather straps, or else she'd break them. But on the third day she would be perfectly still as the venom finished the job and stopped her heart for good. I was going to miss the sound of her heart beating beneath her pale skin.

Dark circles had appeared under her eyes now, but she still looked beautiful. Her dark hair looked amazing next to her pale face. For a moment, she was peaceful, and she looked like she was sleeping. She was a truly cherubic sight to behold.

As the 48 hour mark approached I released her from the leather straps, hoping she wouldn't hurt herself while she was still slightly human. She was suddenly very still, though I could feel her pain was at its peak.

I watched in agony for the next 24 hours as the final changes were taking place. Finally, I heard her heart beat slower and slower until it came to a final stop. I winced as her it did stop, knowing I'd never hear that steady rhythm coming from her ever again. Suddenly all the pain ceased, and it was like taking a breath of fresh air after almost suffocating. Her body relaxed, and her eyelids fluttered. I held my breath (though it didn't matter really), waiting for her to open her eyes.

Finally she opened her pale lavender lids, revealing her ruby irises, which looked fleatingly around the little room without really comprehending what she was seeing. Finally her eyes connected with mine.

"Jasper?" She whispered. My cold, dead heart swelled, and I'd never liked the sound of my name better. Her already beautiful voice was only enhanced by her now perfect vampire voice.

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**_Don't forget! Review and I might post the next chapter today! It's a good one, so review, review, review!_**


	7. The Meadow

**OMG! Breaking Dawn is tonight!! Who's excited? I am! Ok, so since you guys gave me so many review just today, I decided I'd grace you with another chapter before Breaking Dawn holds my attention. Tell me what you think!**

**-TG**

**Chapter 6**

**Alice POV**

I couldn't feel anything but the burning. I didn't know what was going on around me, and I had no clue what was happening to me. I felt the burning spread from my neck to my whole body, and the pain increased with every heart beat, which I felt pounding in my chest. It was constant; never ceasing for a moment. I didn't know how long it had been before I felt cold arms wrapping around me, like water distinguishing the fire. It soothed me momentarily, before the pain started again.

Then the cold was gone, and it disappointed me. I didn't want that cool skin to ever leave mine. Later on, I felt the same cool skin against my head, cooling my feverish body down momentarily. For a few heavenly moments, I was peaceful and the burning subsided, but it always came back like a bad penny.

Finally, after what seemed like years of this unbearable pain, it subsided completely. It seemed to leave my body completely. It felt so good when it stopped. I was suddenly aware of my surroundings. I tried to open my eyes hesitantly, not even realizing that they had been closed. Suddenly, everything I saw was magnified and brilliant. The colors around me stood out like I'd never seen them before. I smelled a strange, sweet scent and I looked around for the source. Then I saw _him._ It was Jasper, who looked down at me fretfully with pain-filled eyes.

"Jasper?" I asked, shocked at the sound of my own voice. My throat felt raw and it burned, but not nearly as bad as the previous pain. It felt like my voice should be raspy from the way that my throat felt, but instead it was clearer and smoother than it had ever sounded.

"Yes?" Jasper said, scooting closer to me than where he'd been sitting on the floor. I looked at his beautiful face and his ruby red eyes. I tried to get up slowly, bracing myself for some sort of pain. I had to be sore or something from the pain I had just experienced. I was surprised that no feeling of pain came over me as I sat up. Actually, I felt better than I'd ever had before. My whole body felt different, and I somehow felt more in control of it.

"What am I?" I surprised myself by saying that. I had meant to say 'Where am I?', but I had unconsciously known that I wasn't a normal human anymore. _If I am human at all..._ I added silently. My suspicions were confirmed as Jasper looked away ashamed of something that I wasn't sure of.

"You're... one of us now. I'm so sorry." I silently absorbed what he was saying; _I was a vampire. _That notion sickened me and excited me all at the same time. Yes, I could be with Jasper now, but would I have to- I gulped nervously -_eat _people? I wouldn't dwell on that, and, instead, I would focus on being able to be with Jasper.

"I'm not." I said without realizing it. I wasn't sorry at all for what I had become. It was exhilarating, this feeling. Jasper looked up at me shocked.

"You're not?" He said with enthusiasm.

"No..." I said assured, but I silently pondered my own words. Was this meant to be? Was I supposed to be a vampire, a blood-drinker? I knew the answer deep inside of me; _Yes, I was. I was meant to be with Jasper. _

"Do you remember your name?" He said hopefully. _Why wouldn't I remember my name?_ I thought amused. Then I realized: Did I remember my name? I scoured my memory for information and found that I couldn't remember very well much about my life so far. Even the most recent events were blurry. Then I remembered a sobbing face of that little, klutzy girl that I loved.

_Flashback_

_I was running towards Bella. She was running into the woods and she hadn't noticed me yet. She slumped against a tree. I slowed down, watching her from a few feet away. She finally noticed me._

"_A-A-Alice?" She whispered between sobs. I sat down beside her, leaning against the same tree as her._

_End Flashback_

"Alice," I said, excited that I'd remembered that specific detail. "My name's Alice!" It was strange that I was so excited because I'd remembered my name. Jasper smiled and laughed at my excited expression.

"Hello, Alice. I'm Jasper Whitlock." He extended his hand and I took it eagerly. He suddenly winced in pain and I drew back my hand in shame. I couldn't have hurt him with just a handshake, could I?

He took in my expression and held up his hands as if to comfort me, "It's okay, Alice! Really, it's okay. It's just that you're very, very strong now. Newborns are always this strong... I have a lot to teach you about what you are." He smiled a reassuring smile, and it lit up the darkness around us like a beacon. I had to smile at the way that he could light up a room like that.

"Will you take a walk with me? I'll explain to you a little better about this whole situation..." He sounded too persuasive to deny, and I nodded eagerly. He laughed and stood up, reaching his hand out to help me up, though I probably didn't need it. He was quite the gentleman. I looked at this hand warily, however, not wanting to hurt him. He smiled reassuringly again and I took it, trying hard not to hold it too tight.

We walked outside of the little tent we were in, still hand in hand. I noticed a woman walking towards us and remembered that her name was Maria. She eyed are intertwined hands like she was disgusted, but I continued to smile at her.

"Maria, we'll be back soon. I'm taking her out to get adjusted..." Jasper said, with a tone of voice that implied that he was telling her, and not asking her. Maria nodded and glared towards me. Jasper stepped protectively in front of me and continued walking, his hand stretched backwards awkwardly so he could continue holding mine.

He dragged me along, and I noticed that there were about twenty other male vampires staring back at me, piercing me with their blood red eyes. I looked at them, but as soon as Jasper turned to glare at them they all looked away. He muttered, "Newborns..." under his breath, and I heard it perfectly. It surprised me that I could hear that well, since he had said it so quietly. I didn't take it offensively, even though I was a so-called "Newborn."

I followed him into the forest, where he stopped. "We're going to be running from here. Just follow me, there's a place I want to take you." He smiled as if he were planning a great surprise. Looking at him, I suddenly was overcome with a strange feeling. Then I realized I was having a vision.

_Jasper and I were running very, very fast, faster than I'd ever thought possible. He suddenly stopped, and I was surprised that I didn't barrel into him from the abrupt stop. _

"_Close your eyes." He whispered. I cocked my head to the side, eying him curiously, but I did as I was told and closed my eyes. He pulled me into a large field, that was lit by what seemed like a million fireflies. Bluebonnets spotted the entire field and swayed in the light breeze. A river trickled slowly through the field. _

"_Okay.." He said pulling me to the center of it all. "Open them." I opened my eyes and took it all in, smiling at the beautiful place. _

"_Oh, wow." I muttered._

"Oh, wow!" I said, now back to the present. I noticed that the vision had been clearer than I'd ever seen before, much like my new sense of sight. Jasper looked at me with a frown turning down his beautiful face.

"Did you see it?" He asked, disheartened. I nodded sheepishly, hoping I hadn't disappointed him too much. He suddenly laughed, which made me smile. "Well... I guess I can never, ever surprise you. As soon as I make a decision, you already see it!" I laughed with him, enjoying this moment. It was true; as soon as he decided to take me to the field, I'd seen it happening. _Maybe_, I thought, _That's what controls my visions; decisions. _I thought for a moment and decided I'd test my theory later. For now I filed it away, and enjoyed the moment.

"Come on!" I said quickly. "I want to see it in person!" He laughed again and ran forward ahead of me about twenty feet. I looked at how he ran so fast, afraid of doing so myself. He beckoned me over and- hesitantly -I crossed the space between us. It was exhilarating, the feeling of the wind in my hair and running so fast that the trees passed in a blur. I laughed in delight and ran forward again.

"Race ya!" I yelled behind me, where Jasper enjoyed watching me discover this new ability. I took this as an advantage and ran ahead, not exactly sure of where I was going. Suddenly he was beside me, laughing as he passed me by. I frowned and sped up in determination. He turned a sharp right through the trees and I chased after him.

We had been running for about 45 minutes, when Jasper abruptly stopped. Neither of us was struggling for air and I found that I wasn't tired at all.

"We're here." He whispered. He quickly added. "Close your eyes." I looked at him oddly and cocked my head to the side.

"Jasper, what's the point? I've already seen it, remember?" I smiled at him, and he smiled back at me, lighting up his surroundings again.

"I know. Just close your eyes, okay? I promise you'll be surprised." He added the last part with a mysterious tone. It made me curious so I closed my eyes. I felt a change in the wind as he waved his hand in front of my face like a child. I chuckled and he took both my hands and led me forward.

I walked forward gracefully, and I felt the dirt forest floor change to soft grass. I smelled the heavy floral scent of the flowers and the blood of a few small animals that scattered around, and I heard the river flowing nearby and the sound of our feet brushing through the grass. It really was amazing how much my senses were enhanced as a vampire.

"Can I open them yet?" I asked playfully, knowing exactly what I was going to see. He said I would be surprised, though, and I trusted him. He dropped my hands, and I was disappointed. I let them drop to my sides.

"Not yet," He replied sounding excited and a little anxious. Suddenly, I felt his presence very close to mine and his hands on my waste. He still held me gently, but not nearly as hesitantly as he had before. I waited patiently for him to tell me I could open my eyes, and basked in the feeling of his touch.

"Okay, open them." I smiled while my eyes were still closed, and opened them, expecting to see the beautiful meadow of bluebonnets. It turns out that I was _very_ surprised to see an even more beautiful sight; Jasper's eyes. They were all I could see, as his eyes bore into mine. His face inches from mine. As soon as he saw me return his gaze, he lowered his face to mine. Before I knew what was happening, he was kissing me.

It was _amazing, _to say the least. The way his lips molded with mine felt like they were meant to be there my whole life. After I got over the initial shock, I returned the kiss. My hands wound their way up to his messy, golden hair and tied his face to mine. He pulled me a little closer until our bodies were meshed into one. Finally, he pulled away, gasping a little for the air he didn't need. He had a silly grin plastered to his face, and I had a feeling that I looked the same.

"That was definitely surprising." I said happily. He chuckled and fell back into the grass with a thud. He had landed in a perfect relaxing position; his hands behind his head, and his legs sprawled out. I didn't want to take my eyes off him, but I couldn't help but want to take in my surroundings.

The meadow was even more beautiful in person. All the fireflies flew around in circles in the air, looking like mystical little fairies. The river was glittering silver in the bright moonlight that shone from the full moon above. Everything was _perfect_.

I looked back down to Jasper. He had his eyes closed and he was breathing deep, even breaths.

"Jasper, are you asleep?" I asked quietly. Suddenly he was laughing and his his eyes were open has he clutched his sides.

"What's so funny?" I asked, with my hands in fists on by hips. I was a little offended by his outbreak of giggles at what I'd said.

Sensing my annoyance, he looked at me seriously, but he still had a small smile lingering on his lips. "Alice, we _can't_ sleep." He said matter-of-factly. I couldn't help but notice how great it sounded when he said my name.

"Oh." I said, surprised. How was I supposed to know that vampires didn't sleep? Actually, in all the vampire movies all the vampires did during the day was sleep in coffins... but I guess since Jasper didn't have fangs, a black cape, and a Transylvanian accent that the movies were incorrect. I wondered what else they got wrong...

As I pondered that, I suddenly felt myself being pulled to the ground. I landed perfectly next to Jasper on the soft grass, He still had his hands on my waste from pulling me down, and I glared at him. I sighed and leaned into his shoulder, contentedly. He wrapped one arm around me. I leaned up to his face and kissed him again quickly. He smiled and left my face close to his like that.

After a while of sitting in the same position, I looked over at the horizon noticing for the first time that the sun was beginning to rise. I was suddenly afraid, and Jasper looked concerned for me.

"What's wrong?" He asked lightly. I looked up at him and back at the horizon.

"Jasper..." I was almost embarrassed to ask, but I couldn't help but worry about it. "Are we going to like... turn to stone or something?"

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**I know it's really similar to the whole Edward and Bella Meadow thing, but I thought Jasper and Alice should have a special place too, except this meadow has a little Texas touch in it: Bluebonnets! They're amazing! I'm going to place a link on my profile of the meadow I imagined when I get the chance. Keep checking for it**


	8. What about Garlic?

**Sorry for the long wait everybody. I had this one with my beta, but she might be out of town or something because she's not responding. So, if there are little mistakes, please forgive me. I'm temporarily beta-less. **

**This chapter's pretty short. It's mostly a filler, but it's leading up to a _big_- and I mean _BIG_ -turning point, so keep reading and you'll find out soon enough. I wrote the beginning of the next chapter (the first five paragraphs) and now my co-author is taking over that chapter. She was really excited to write it, so you should be too! :D**

**Keep Reading!**

**-TG**

**RXR- Maybe, if we get up to 30 reviews I'll get that chapter out faster... who knows? And trust me, you'll want to get out this next chapter quickly, because in five days I start school. After school starts updates will be slower- that is, unless I get some encouragement. Who knows? If I get a lot of reviews, I might feel the need to bring a notebook to class specifically for writing the next chapter for you guys... **

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Chapter 7

I soon realized – much to my relief, and Jasper's enjoyment – that vampires _don't _turn to stone. Well, not exactly. Instead, they sparkle like diamonds. I held my breath, somehow afraid that the slight movement of my lungs would make the wonder end. But it didn't, not even as I tentatively reached out to touch Jasper's arm, which was sparkling like thousands of minuscule glittering facets were embedded in his skin.

Jasper was smiling – it seemed I was always aware of what he was doing – even as my eyes stayed focused on his arm. Suddenly there was something else, his glimmering hand, that came into my field of vision. He grabbed my hand and brought it slowly to his lips. He kissed my knuckles, his lips still smiling. When I could take my eyes off his face, I finally focused on my hand. The air I that I didn't know that I had been holding rushed out in surprise. My hand was sparkling as well! Jasper laughed quietly at my expression.

"This is why we don't go out during the day. Not because the sun burns us or anything. This is just our reaction to the sun" He said, obviously still sensing my confusion.

"It is a _little _ostentatious, I admit." I said, with a note of sarcasm ringing in my now velvety voice. That was a severe understatement: If one of us were to step into the public eye like this we would have every pair of eyes within a mile radius staring at us. He chuckled at my comment.

"Just a little." He added, still smiling beautifully; his perfect white teeth shining next to his already flawless glittering skin. I held my breath, once again enjoying the view that enchanted me. I held my breath still, yet I didn't feel that familiar burning feeling in my lungs that signaled my need to breathe. After a while, my gaze drifted from Jasper's face to no where in particular. However amazing and beautiful he looked, my mind had moved on to something a little more urgent that was pressing against my thought. I held my breath still, and it had been about five minutes. It was only a bit uncomfortable since I couldn't smell anymore, but overall my lungs were not at all pleading with me to intake the needed oxygen. After a while of this, I looked over to Jasper again-- my already restrained breath being taken away by the pleasantly surprising beauty of his face. He had a questioning look on his face as he analyzed my silent reverie.

I thought silently about how I would explain my current musings. "I held my breath…" I explained. "for a decent amount of time. And it didn't bother me at all…" Understanding flashed across his face, and then seriousness set in.

"We don't need to breath, Alice." He watched me warily; for what, I wasn't quite sure.

"Oh." That was a little to digest. I filed that away in my head for further pondering. I forced my thoughts in another direction

"So if the sun doesn't hurt you… us," I quickly corrected; that would take time to get used to. "Then what about garlic?" Jasper shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. "Crosses? Holy water? Stakes?" Jasper continued to shake his head, smile widely now at my ignorance.

"No, none of those things can hurt us." He replied. Then, he added with a hint of amusement betraying itself through the seriousness of his statement. "We can't even turn into bats."

"Darn." I muttered playfully. I pouted appropriately. But my curiosity was still tugging at me. "So what _can _hurt us?"

Instantly I regretted saying it. Jasper's face fell into a serious mask. He said nothing for a few minutes. "Well?"

He sighed. "Seeing what I've gotten you into, you should know." He brought his blazing red eyes up to meet mine. "The only way to truly kill a vampire is to rip them into pieces and burn them." I couldn't help it, I winced. The thought made me cringe.

"That's... um, harsh." I hesitated with my words, not knowing exactly how to word what I was feeling. He chuckled darkly under his breath, but it wasn't as humorous as it was grim.

"Don't worry. No matter what little spats we might get into, I vow that I'll never let that happen to you. I would put my own life- _existence_ -on the line for you." His voice rang with the truth in his words. He drew his arm around me and hugged me to his side a little closer than we were previously. I frowned not exactly liking the idea of him putting his life on the line at all. I quickly noticed one word that he used and questioned it.

"Spats?" I asked quietly, folding my hand into his. He suddenly grew paler; though it seemed impossible considering his face was already a light shade of ivory. As he thought quietly about what to say, I traced the lines of muscle along his pale arm. Then I noticed them; many, _many _perfectly crescent scars lined up and down Jasper's beautiful skin, marring the perfection and not glittering like the rest of his skin. I looked at them in shock, "Jasper?! How did you get all these? What happened to you?"

"Well... uh. You might have been wondering why we have 17 male newborn vampires back at camp..." He trailed off, probably not wanting to continue. I threw him a look that told him that he needed to continue. My current thoughts were somewhere along the lines of 'Tell me who they are, and I'll rip _them _to pieces, whether they're a vampire or not.' Seeing my furious expression, he continued. "They're our army. Well, Maria's army since she created them, but she put me in charge of them. Sometimes they get... a bit rowdy." I disregarded the newborns and focused on his previous statement about _Maria._ He sounded like he was trying to defend himself, but it still sounded horrible. How could she turn a bunch of innocent people into her soldiers?

"Why would you need an army?" I muttered quietly, hoping that the suspicions crawling their way into my thoughts were not true.

"Um, first you should know that we- especially Maria and Nettie- can get very territorial. Actually, most vampires are that way. They don't like other vampires encroaching on their territory or reaping its... benefits. " He cringed on the last word, and I immediately knew what he meant. _Benefits,_ I thought sickened. They fought over their hunting grounds. They were fighting for food.

Sensing my discomfort at the subject he tried to successfully change the subject—_tried _being the key word here. "Speaking of which, we probably should have taken you hunting last night, since you're a newbo- new to this." He quickly rephrased his words, not wanting to offend me with his casual use of the word that I now found repulsive.

"Um... I don't think I want to do that." He glanced at me quickly, testing the truth in my words. He looked surprised.

"You might want to start. One, by tonight your thirst we'll be killing you- figuratively of course. And two, Maria will be angry if you're not at your strongest." He finished, though it sounded as if he regretted saying the latter part of his little speech. I shook it off and scoffed.

"I don't believe I really care what Maria thinks or feels. I'm not afraid of her... I wasn't as a human, why should I be now?" He smiled as if I was missing some sort of inside joke.

"You should be. Maria can be... vicious. Be afraid, be _very _afraid." There was a sense of seriousness in his warning, but it ended in a mocking tone. He was probably just trying to not make me afraid with the light tone of his words, but I felt that there was actual foreboding hidden in his voice.

I looked up at the sky, noticing for the first time that the sun was directly above us, signaling noon. As Jasper noticed this he quickly sprang to his feet with vampiric grace.

"We should really be getting back now." He held out his hand to help me up. I took it gladly, though I didn't need it.

"Aw, do we have to?" I said tucking under his arm playfully.

"I'm afraid so. Duty calls!" He made a quick two-fingered salute, and I laughed. He _did _seem like a commander in the army. I thought mischievously as I glanced at his shimmering skin. _Hmm, I always loved a man in uniform..._


	9. All Hell Broke Loose

**Ok, so here is my co-author's wonderful chapter for you! She wrote most of this one, so enjoy! Really, the combination of chapters 8 (this one), 9, and 10 are the beginning of all the drama, so stay tuned! **

**I've already written chapter 9, it's now with Alex, the amazing co-author, for checking and approval. She's usually quick about it, so that should be out very, very soon. **

**Enjoy! RxR!**

**-TG **

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**Chapter 8-**

As we entered the camp, I now noticed the mechanics of the small field. It was very open, with plenty of room for vampires to... well I don't know exactly what they did here, but they had to keep themselves occupied somehow, right? But compared to the bright sunlight of our meadow, it was rather dark here. The trees above us created a canopy, as if they purposefully made an umbrella for it's inhabitants. Only a few streaks of sunlight filtered through the leaves, causing passerby's to glitter beautifully. It was sort of an anagogic sight to behold.

After I quickly observed our surroundings, I observed the other vampires. They were no longer sitting or standing around. Now they were all moving. More specifically, they were in pairs; lunging at the other person and dodging the other person's lunges. I could tell they were sparring, but it looked more like a dance; with every move carefully echoing the other's. Despite all of this, they some how looked like amateurs out there, with no real form of attack _except_ lunge and dodge, lunge and dodge. There didn't seem to be any strategic form to this dance.

I looked at each pair of Newborns, then glanced at the very end of the long line to see Maria and Lucy sparring each other, and Nettie and one man who looked the same as all the others, except he seemed to be in more control of the battle. He was carefully studying Nettie's moves in the millisecond of space between one move and the next. Every now and then, you'd see him gain an advantage over Nettie, but somehow she always brought it back to an even score before she lost the battle all together. It was like watching an arm wrestling match between two evenly strong people, but one was getting tired (though I knew that wasn't the case with Nettie) and nodding off every now and then.

I stood awe-struck, unconsciously holding tightly to Jasper's thick, muscled arm. I didn't look at him, but I could feel his gaze on me- probably judging my reaction to what I now realized was their form of "training." I could see his face in my peripheral vision. I looked quickly up at his face, smiling when I saw the concern etched in his features. I raised myself up on my tip-toes, bringing my lips quickly to his for reassurance. He smiled beneath my lips. I went down to my normal height again, and by the time I had completely lowered myself Jasper was no longer smiling. He looked angry, with his lips pulled back now to reveal his teeth, and a hiss sounding from his chest. He actually looked quite frightening, almost like- well, a vampire.

I didn't know exactly what made him so angry. I followed his gaze until I saw Maria, visibly fuming where she stood. I didn't have to be an empath to feel her envy and anger. This all happened in a single second, and in that single second Lucy hadn't realized that Maria had come to a full stop. She barreled into Maria, who then stumbled backwards into one of the newborns before regaining composure. That newborn then fell into the next newborn... and it was a domino effect from there. In about 2 and a half seconds all hell had broken loose.

Newborns were flying everywhere, their fast movements making it look like there were five times as many; all crashing and smashing into each other, until the clearing was pounding with the sound of incessant thunder. They turned on their neighbors and let loose their instincts – all rational thought was lost. The –mortal- ear shattering thunder was broken only by the young vampires' snarls and the splintering sound of trees that were in their path. Poor trees.

I couldn't do anything but stare, my new senses straining to catch everything. But bodies and snarls were flying everywhere. I hardly noticed Jasper leave my side, and leap into the middle of the fray, trying to settle the rioters down. I unconsciously stumbled forward, wanting to be closer to Jasper and the riot so I could see all the was happening better. I located Jasper somewhere towards the middle of the stampede He and two other people stood out from the crowd. As a high peal of _laughter _rang through the clearing, I turned to Nettie, standing on the far side, her head throw back. Laughing. As this chaos swarmed around her, she was laughing. How sick.

And Maria. She wasn't doing a thing. Her narrowed eyes just followed Jasper as he moved through the mob, possession and anger warped strangely in her gaze. Somehow, I felt the anger was directed at me. Another vampire, who I remembered Jasper had referred to as Thomas, was moving separately too. Well… if it can be called separately. Basically, he and Jasper were the only two _not _trying to rip people's limbs off and tear those pieces to shreds.

I was too busy keeping tabs on those four, so I didn't see it coming. But I sure as hell felt it. One instant (we're talking a nanosecond instant) I was watching the fight, and the next, I was being hit by a truck. Or that's what it felt like. A truck. A big one, carrying freakin' _elephants._ But then, trucks don't have claws. I could feel its nails digging into my shoulder. I could hear another high peal of Nettie's laughter, probably responding to my current predicament. I bit my lip as my attacker's nails (I swear, they were filed to a point) raked down my arm. Then I heard it. Over the other snarls – and Nettie's cackling – over the thunderous crashes, there was a snarl, far more frightening than the others. It sent chills down my spine and the hair rising on my neck. There was a blur and suddenly the newborn was gone. He (now I could actually tell what my attacker was) was pinned against the ground. Jasper was the one doing the pinning – and the growling. I blinked, reality was blurring again as it was replaced by a brief vision.

I closed my eyes tightly, and turned away. I didn't want to see what would happen to my attacker, even if my vision had shown me. It didn't help though. I could hear his screams as he was ripped apart. Then I could smell the smoke. I didn't open my eyes again until I heard Maria's voice.

"Jasper! What the hell are you doing!?" I turned to see Maria, completely up in Jasper's face. Both of them didn't look exactly pleased. "How could you do that?! He was one of our best soldiers! How could you kill him for a useless _rookie_?" She shot a look intended to kill in my direction. Jasper didn't say anything. He just turned and was at my side in seconds.

"Alice?" His eyes were full of worry, even as he tried to hide his fury. He reached out and gingerly touched my shoulder. Even being a vampire, I winced as his cold fingers brushed over the deep gashes the late newborn had left in my shoulder. But even as I watched, the wounds seemed to heal- albeit, slowly compared to Jasper and the other newborns who had now stopped their rage. They were all mending themselves- some reconnecting whole limbs to themselves. Jasper had a few new bite marks, a few shallow scratches, but none as bad as the deep gashes that raked up and down my arms.

Jasper wrapped his sculpted arms around me. "Alice. You need to hunt."

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**I know it's short, but I promise to have the next out very soon. That one's a lot longer.**

**Keep Reading!**

**-TG**


	10. Bring on the Hobos

**I'm not sure why, but I was very hesitant about this chapter. It wasn't exactly planned, I just sort of wrote it. I didn't get as far as I planned with it, but I think I'm pleased with the outcome. I'm currently writing the next chapter. If I can, I'd like to get it out later today or tomorrow. That's completely up to how fast I can write and how fast my co-author approves it, though. I _will _try to write it. **

**I really want to know what you think about this story. This chapter especially, since I was so hesitant about it. RxR**

**-TG**

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**Chapter 9 **

_Last Chapter:_

"_Alice. You need to hunt."_

I gulped loudly. Despite the pain I was feeling in both my ravaged shoulders and my burning throat, I was reluctant to go hunting.

"I don't think I really _need _to go hunting, do I?" I already knew the answer- I could _feel _the answer burning mockingly in the back of my throat. He looked down at me condescendingly. I turned my face from him, avoiding his penetrating gaze. He pulled my chin back to face him with one finger, about to speak to me again, but he was interrupted.

"Of course you're going hunting. You just wasted me a perfectly good soldier- no! Better than perfectly good. That was one of our _best_ soldiers! I want you as strong as you possibly can be, because tomorrow you're getting some very _special _training to make up for it." She smiled- more like bared her teeth at me -evilly. I was clinging to Jasper's tattered shirt, ruined from the outbreak. At Maria's words, I felt that growl emanate from deep inside his chest. I saw a few tiny pink scars from the scratches. They were prominent through the tears in his shirt, but I could see them fading quickly away completely. Still, It annoyed me greatly- too greatly for just mere concern -that he was hurt at all, disregarding the still prominent scars of my own.

I suddenly remembered the _actual _cause of Jasper's pain- my pain. I turned quickly around, facing the fierce blood-red eyes in front of me. "Excuse me?! You're blaming this on me?! I believe that if you hadn't been completely drooling over Jasper, this never would have happened! You're the one who wasn't paying attention!" I saw the shock register in her eyes from my words. I guess she wasn't used to people standing up to her. I was correct.

She was suddenly lunging herself at me, before I could even think about it. I was prepared to attack in a nanosecond, but there was no need for it. Jasper had taken an infinitesimal half-step in front of me protectively. Before she could reach me, Jasper threw her to the side of us, where she landed gracefully in a cat-like crouch as if she was about to attack again. Jasper didn't growl or lunge at Maria. He simply looked at her.

Maria gave one final snarl, "How dare you! How dare you... attack... your leader." As she spoke, her words came to a diminuendo as she visibly became calmer. I saw her stand up calmly and place her fingertips on her temples, rubbing away some kind of hidden stress, for she looked as calm and collected as could be.

"You are _not _to use your powers on me again, you hear?" Her words were spoken slow and eloquently, but the calm tone almost made the threat even more menacing. Jasper nodded once.

"Drastic times. Drastic measures." He said quietly- almost silently. I knew, however, that every pair of ears in that field could hear. Now- looking around -I realized that we were the center of attention for everyone present. Nettie, Lucy, and the now dwindling group of 16 male newborns all had their red penetrating eyes fixed on us.

"Hardly." She said maliciously, eying me again. She turned to Nettie, "Nettie take the newbie hunting. She doesn't seem to be going... willingly." Nettie laughed a shrill noise and sprung over to me, taking me painfully by the arm that was still covered in deep scratches. I winced as she pulled me along, attempting to grab her wrist to remove her by force. Of course, Jasper had me covered.

As Jasper saw Nettie take my wrist, he growled. "Over my pile of ashes!" and- with a small, painful cracking sound -Jasper had removed Nettie's hand, grabbing my wrist gently with the same hand in which he had just crushed Nettie's with.

"Ouch! You bully, what did you do that for?!" She said in a high-pitched whine, shaking her hand as I saw it fill out the Jasper-hand-shaped imprint that he left.

"Dammit Nettie. You hurt her, I hurt you. Get it straight now, because you're going to have to get used to it." He said angrily snarling the words at her. I gleamed on the inside, but stayed aware of what Maria was doing, afraid that she would attack him or something in her jealousy. Maria glared again at him. He ignored it and took on a very fierce expression.

"There'll be no need for an escort of _that _sort, Maria. I'll be taking Alice hunting tonight- well now, I guess since it's getting dark." I looked up and noticed for the first time that it had gotten dark. I gulped again nervously at what that meant. Jasper looked over at me with a concerned look. With realization he added, "And we _will _be hunting. That won't be a problem..." I could tell that the latter part was specifically stated for my benefit. I pouted a little, knowing there was no way out of it. He would get his way in the end, there was no getting around that.

"I don't know if I can trust you with that, Jasper. I think-" Maria said, glaring towards me as she spoke to Jasper. I guess it was just easier for her to take her anger out on me rather that the person she was actually angry at.

"Well, you really can't trust anyone anymore, can you?" And that was that. The conversation was over. His last words, though... they made me think. Did he really not trust me? I mean, I know we don't even know that much about each other but I trust him with my existence, which he had saved a few times today. How could he not trust me in the same way?

He started pulling me gently towards the forest as I felt the glares follow me there. He sighed as soon as we stepped out of vampire hearing range. I looked up at him, but he looked forward, not meeting my gaze. I looked down at our intertwined hands and squeezed his lightly. He squeezed it back, and I smiled, happy that he acknowledged me.

Of course, with his powers, he couldn't _not_ be affected by my happiness. He scooted closer to me, taking the hand he held captive and placing it on his waist and putting his own arm around my shoulders. I sighed contentedly at the same time as him, which made him him laugh.

Standing so close to him, I realized how tiny I was in comparison to him. He was so tall that I barely stood at his shoulder, which I now laid my head against as we walked in no particular direction. He was so thick with muscle, and I was so tiny. It only made that feeling of being completely surrounded by him feel that much safer. This was my home now; in Jasper's arms.

We were walking at a humanly slow pace when we reached the city limits. I suddenly awoke from my daydreaming, now realizing what it was that we were about to do. It made me feel sick to my stomach in a strange way... but then there was that horrid burning feeling that had taken up my entire esophagus and mouth, making venom constantly pool in my mouth. It was uncomfortable, to say the least.

I stopped suddenly, my nerves getting the best of me. Jasper spoke, his words soothing. "It'll be ok. I'll teach you, it's always a little challenging the first time through. You'll be-"

"Jasper." I interrupted him with a pain-stricken look. His brows crossed in a concerned look. He opened his mouth to speak again, but I stopped him. "Jasper, listen to me. I'm being completely serious. I really don't know if I can do this..."

"It's not going to be a problem. You just-" I shook my head, trying to continue.

"I started thinking about it, Jasper... and I remember almost nothing about my human life, I realized. I can't remember what my parents were like. I couldn't tell you what school I went to, or if I had any friends, or even my _last name_. The worst part is, I don't know _why._

The only things I remember are the day I was changed, the pain during the transformation, and one other person: My sister_. _Her name was Bella, and she meant the world to me. I remember exactly what she looked like and how she acted and spending time with her. The only reason I even remembered my own _name _was because I remembered that Bella said my name in a vision. I was going to go shopping with her on that day- I remember that -but I ended up not taking her because I had a vision that Nettie killed her. And though I knew that for some reason I _had _to go anyway to that alley- now I realize that _you_ brought me there -I knew that I couldn't let Bella come with me. Couldn't let her be hurt. That's my only real vivid memory.

But what I'm trying to say is. I had someone so special to me in my human life. Now what if she had gone that day instead of me? What if she had been killed by our kind? I would've felt so horrible. Who's to say I won't find someone else's special person? You see my dilemma?"

He looked pensive for a moment. After a few minutes of deep thought, he smiled and took my face between his hands, gazing down at my eyes. "I understand perfectly- probably better than anyone else. I have to _feel _every emotion of my prey. Their fright and regret affects me _every time._ I've never told anyone that, and the other three have never really realized how much it pains me to hunt people... but, when it comes down to it, it's not something I can really control."

"But-" I began to interrupt. He put his hand over my mouth playfully so he could continue.

"You'll understand soon. I try to avoid that as much as possible, only targeting sleeping Hobo's who have basically no feeling but tired, hungry, and high. In _certain _special occasions, I target rapists who I have absolutely no pity towards." He smiled to himself at his own personal joke. _I _didn't think it was that funny when I had to experience almost being victimized by those awful 'special occasions'. "But you see, it's hard to avoid a lot of the time. The others don't really give a crap who they kill, and they drag me along with them. And once you smell a human it's literally impossible to turn away from the scent. Your senses take over, and you're not the least bit human anymore- just predator. It's a scary sensation... but you'll get used to it."

I wrinkled my nose at that prospect, and he laughed at me twisted expression. "Once you smell them, it won't be a problem. Just trust me. Do you trust me?" I nodded slowly, giving in to his beautiful, trustworthy face.

"Then if you trust me, listen to me when I say that you need to hunt. Look at your arms. The wounds are _just _now starting to close. They should've closed almost immediately. Do you even see a scratch on me? Did you see Nettie's wrist repair itself? That's how it's _supposed_ to heal. You don't have enough blo- _energy_ -in you to repair yourself. You're throat will continue to burn incessantly and you're eyes! Look at yourself Alice, your eyes are far too dark."

He pointed to a nearby window of an abandoned building. I saw my reflection for the first time since my change. I now noticed how truly tiny I was; I was thin, but not too thin. I was beautifully thin, and my hair was darker. It was black instead of dark brown now. But the most prominent feature was my eyes. With dark purplish semi-circles surrounding them, they looked bruised. The irises themselves were a deep shade of burgundy that was far darker than jasper's ruby ones. Seeing the need, and trusting Jasper, I finally nodded.

He smiled at me encouragingly.

"But just hobos and rapists right?" I said, both mockingly and perfectly serious. He laughed, though, taking the mocking side.

"Just hobos and rapists tonight, I promise." He took my hand and we started to run in some general direction. He knew where he was going, I didn't. It seemed uninhabited for a very long stretch. But I started to hear traffic and city sounds coming from about a mile or two away. It was too far for me to smell any humans yet, but I could tell we would be finding some _very _soon.

"Are you ready?" He asked, squeezing my hand another time.

"Bring on the hobos." I smirked at him. He laughed.

"Don't forget the rapists." He added, with another laugh.

"Never! Why would I want to forget them?" I said sarcastically. Remembering the last time we had encountered someone of that sort, I had a thought. "Hey, Jasper? Before we do this, can you promise me one thing?" I said seriously.

He looked a little concerned, but he said equally serious. "Anything in the Universe." I smiled at that, hearing the truth in his words.

"If we do find any rapists or anything, promise me you won't fall in love with the potential rape victim." I ended in a sarcastic tone that made him double over in laughter. I was laughing with him as he pulled me forward and we started running again.


	11. Fate is a Malicious Thing

_**Hey, everyone. **_

_**Sorry this took soooo long, but I got it out when I could. School started up again, and then I was hit by Hurricane Ike and didn't have power for about two weeks, so bare with me. I'm writing the next one right now so be patient. Thanks you guys!**_

_**-TG**_

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_**Chapter 10- Fate is a Malicious Thing**_

I tried to let those animal instincts take over me, I really did. I tried to access that part of me that wasn't human, but, as soon as I began to let my human emotions slip away and focused on that burning thirst gnawing at the back of my throat, it happened. We were running so fast that it seemed like we might not have even noticed. But we did, and there was no stopping us once we noticed.

If I had been having trouble with my instincts before, there was no doubting them now. They were raging, burning. They blinded me from anything and everything around me except for those three giggling girls rounding the corner a quarter mile ahead. Fate must be a malicious thing.

I was running no longer straight ahead, but directly for the girls walking across the street. They were pretty girls, probably about 16 or 15 years old. But none of that mattered to me. All I could see was the blood running through their veins. All I could hear was the separate poundings of each of their hearts, which seemed like war drums just egging me further. All I could smell was their sweet, sweet scent, which only fed the flame at the back of my throat, their only funeral pyre.

I was a mere 30 yards away, but the girls still hadn't realized my presence. I was too fast, too stealthy; I was the perfect predator, there was no doubting that. Now I was dead in front of them and there was no way they couldn't see me. I finally got a good look at them as I barreled forward. The girl in the middle had mid-length copper-brown hair that framed her heart-shaped face. She seemed so familiar. She seemed... like my sister.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

I focused on the girl's face realizing it wasn't actually Bella... but that didn't matter. Though this girl wasn't Bella, she could be to someone out there. This girl was someone's sister or daughter or only friend. But whatever she was, she didn't deserve this. The girls had stopped as well. We were ten feet from each other. I began to panic, not knowing what I was going to do with them. I didn't want to kill them, despite the venom pooling in my mouth, but they had seen me running. They knew far too much. Unfortunately, I didn't have to worry too much about it, for I'd forgotten Jasper's presence behind me.

He was frightening, even for a vampire. His ruby eyes were glowing like flames as he ran faster than imaginable towards his victims. Dreadful, invincible, hideously beautiful; unstoppable. Before I could blink (though it wasn't necessary), the girls were dead on the hard ground. Jasper suddenly looked at me, his stance more animal than person; more monster than person. I looked at him as if he was the cold, hard murderer he was. As soon as he took in my expression, he sobered. I ran away from him, now sickened by the scent that just seconds ago had smelled so appetizing.

I vaguely realized he was fallowing behind me, catching up slowly since he ran faster, but I didn't care. I just wanted to get away from everything; what we were, what he had just done, and the fact that I couldn't do anything about it. I kept running, not exactly sure where my feet were taking me.

After a while of running I found myself in our meadow. The bright blinking fire flies and the silvery moon against the river seemed duller than they had been before. I fell to my knees as invisible tears fell from my eyes. I cursed this fate. I was a monster, and I couldn't even cry about it. Like I said; Fate is a malicious thing.

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**_Sorry it was so short. The next chapter's gonna be from Jasper's POV so I had to stop it there. Tell me what you think of the chapter_**


	12. None of this is Necessary

**Hey,**

**I feel like I'm saying this every time, but sorry it took so long! With this program at my school all my time is booked, and my co-writer is in the same program so she's just as busy. Hope you like this chapter!**

**By the way, who loved the Twilight movie??? I did! Everybody was ragging on it, but I think they did a very good job on it. I mean, I wasn't expecting all the magic to be in one hour and half movie, were you!? It's impossible! It would've taken at least three days to fit all the magic in! Who caught stephenie meyer's cameo? :D**

-TG

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**Chapter 11- (Jasper POV) None of this is Necessary**

I sobered as soon as I saw the look on her face. I didn't care about the girls, I could dispose of them later... all that mattered now was Alice. She was running away from me now, and I was so confused. I explained to her already that I couldn't control it, and I'd seen the same animal instinct take over her as she sensed them-- what could have changed?

She ran for a long time. I could have caught up with her easily, but I gave her space. Finally I saw my meadow- our meadow. Her body was shaking with quiet sobs and her knees hit the ground. I tried to find any little spec of happiness around, but there wasn't any. It was all despair and concern. I finally stepped forward.

"Alice? Alice... what happened? What went wrong?" Anger and disgust appeared around her. "What did I do?"

"What did you do? You murdered innocent lives! My sister... oh Bella..." At her words, my dead stomach dropped. I couldn't have killed the person she loved most in the world, could I? It couldn't be...

"I... killed... your sister?"

"No!" Relief briefly washed over me, "But it might as well have been! Do you not even listen to me? You murdered someone's child- someone's girlfriend!" She got up from her knees and walked to me in a half a second. "I stopped myself from killing them! Why couldn't you?! How could you do that, Jasper? How could you..." Her eyes were trembling with invisible tears as she repeated the same line over again. I wrapped my arms around her, and she beat her little fist against my chest as she repeated the same words. And every word- every beat of her fist -felt like a stabbing knife into my heart.

"You are so strong, my Alice... I can't even comprehend how you stopped yourself. You amaze me even more every day." Her eyes met mine and the sparkle in them had returned a little bit, but it didn't hide the growing need that her eyes betrayed. "But I'm not that strong. What you did was amazing, but this is who I am- who we are. I – we - don't have a choice in the matter." The sparkle was gone as she tore herself away from my arms.

"No! You always have a choice! We don't have to be monsters! We must have a choice..." She turned her back to me.

"Not this time..." I whispered. I truly did wish there was another way, but I knew there wasn't.

"I won't... I can't kill innocent people." She turned around with that look of despair etched on her face, and realization hit me.

Now I was angry. "So, what, are you going to starve yourself now? You're going to kill yourself!" I wasn't angry at her, but I couldn't help but hate the idea of anything hurting her.

She crossed her arms like a defiant teenager. "You know that's not true. You told me yourself; there's only one way to kill a vampire."

I backed away from her and ran one hand through my untamed hair. "I think you may have invented another way... there couldn't have been a time in history where a vampire could have resisted like your planning to do. I mean, doing this probably make you only more susceptible to their scent... you'd have to be completely isolated from even the thought of humans!"

"If that's what it takes. It's me or hundreds of innocent people."

I was in front of her in less than a second. I took her hands in mine and looked into her eyes. "Frankly, I love you more than a billion innocent people." Her expression softened and a small smile lit her lips.

"Then you won't have a problem helping me through this. I'm not asking you to do this with me—I know it's hard to change. I'm just asking that you be supportive, because I am doing this." I closed my eyes against her heart-breaking expression.

I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and put my face in her hair. "Maria's not going to be happy with this..." That was an understatement. Maria would rip me to shreds at this news. Interestingly enough, she laughed.

She wrapped her little arms around my waist and said, "When will you realize that I don't care what Maria thinks, says, or does. I'm only here for you." If only it were that easy... I thought. I wasn't about to break it to her that she was here because if she tried to leave, there's no doubt she'd be killed. Even I couldn't protect her against Maria, Netty, Lucy, and their whole army. Maria's trio wasn't about to let a newborn go rampaging around their territory- not without a fight involved. I would've left decades ago had I a way to go or place to go to.

"Where will I stay?" She asked quietly, muffling her voice into my chest.

"What do you mean?" I asked, a note of worry betraying itself in my voice.

"Well I can't stay at camp. If anything should happen I won't be able to fight. Like you said, I need to be isolated.... I could probably stay here. It's far enough away from camp that they probably won't detect me, but close enough so you could see me every day. You could go back to camp and leave me here. Tell them—tell them that we encountered another vampire. You killed him, but you couldn't protect me in-"

"No!" I choked on the word. "I won't even pretend that could happen."

"It's necessary." The look on her face was determined and unchangeable.

"None of this is necessary."

Her crimson eyes glared defiantly into mine, "I'm making it necessary."


	13. He'll be Back

**Hey everybody! Happy Turkey Day!**

**Last night in the wee hours of the morning (that's me being dramatic) Haha, well last night I had a little bout of inspiration and wrote this. I'm very glad this just came to me because I've been trying to think of this transition for a couple of weeks now. Hope you guys like it! My co-writer and editor loved it, so I think you will too. **

**Hope you get to read this sometime during your post-turkey induced coma!**

**Happy Reading and Eating**

**TG**

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During the run back to camp all I thought about was the fierce determination in her eyes that made me realize when she said that she was making this necessary, she meant it. I just didn't understand how she couldn't accept this… I mean, we all want to be different but how can she resist who we are? As much as I want her to be happy, I don't want to see her suffer, which she undoubtedly will do. I know her intentions are right though. It seems like she just stumbled upon my life one day and decided to complete change the way I've been taught to think and act. It's so strange that I can trust the girl I've known for a mere few days like I've known her my whole life, but I can't trust Maria or the others as far as…well, I could probably throw them pretty far, so that's not a good analogy

As my thoughts drew to a close, so did the distance. I crossed the border into our territory in mere minutes. I took a deep even breath and prepared myself for what I was about to do. My clothes were already torn, but I took the shirt off completely so nothing would be suspected. Gripping my shoulder with one hand, I scratched down my chest until I had a few deep gashes. This would make me at least look battle-worn, not that that was a problem anyway. I had enough newborn teeth marks on my skin that you wouldn't notice a new one anymore than you'd notice a new freckle on the face of a human child. That was one thing about me that Alice didn't like…

I let the first experience in the meadow fill me with a sense of nostalgia as I stepped through the trees surrounded camp. Another battle drill was being run by Lucy as I entered. I took another deep breath, and that single motion, so calm and different from everything else going on, was enough to get the attention of every pair of glowing red eyes. I let a deeply pained scowl darken my face, and took the anger in the meadow to my advantage. It filled me up, and only added to the feeling of hurt that I was feigning. The trio were in front of me in less than a second. I waited for them speak first.

Of course Maria decided to speak up. "What happened to you? Where's the girl?" I didn't have to pretend to wince when she said those last two words, because her reference to my Alice was vulgar in itself. I ran my hair through one hand as I went over the story in my head.

"There was another vampire—not a newborn, but still young. A-Alice…" I stumbled over her name, when I found it really hurt to say it. "She wasn't next to me at the time. He got to her before I could save her… I tried." It was hard to maintain my hurt and angry façade as I felt a sickeningly pleased attitude wash over me, and for once it wasn't coming from Nettie—It was coming from Nettie _and_ Maria, for obviously different reasons.

"Go." Maria said with a smirk.

"Wha-?" I began to ask, but was interrupted by a piercing whine.

"Aw.. Maria that was just a gentle-vampire's bet right? I mean we didn't even shake on it!" In a flash, Maria took Nettie's hand and flung her 75 yards away.

"There, we shook on it. You lost, you go." Maria crossed her arms over her chest and glared towards Nettie with that authoritative look.

"Aw, man!" As soon as Nettie disappeared behind the trees, the smirk returned and replaced the feigned glare.

"What was that?" Lucy said in a bored tone, and I doubted she really cared at all. She was probably asking for my benefit.

"Remember? I bet Nettie 500 patrol duties that the girl wouldn't last a week; Nettie bet two weeks after Jazz broke her wrist and got all protective." I growled in disgust, but also proved how truly protective I am, even after she… _died. _"Oh shush, the girl's not even here any more, so she's nothing to worry about." Maria patted my cheek twice, like I was some human child to be consoled. But she was assuring me that my Alice _was_ dead, like that should make me feel better. All that mattered was that I knew very well that she was wrong.

The whole time Lucy and Maria were discussing, anger was filling me up to my core. I was about to explode at them, but they were long past the fact that they _bet on how long it would take my Alice to die._ "This is perfect!" Maria exclaimed. "They encroached on our territory—it's perfect cause to declare war…" She wandered off diabolically.

I had to stop this before we went to battle for no reason, "Maria, I _really_ don't think he was from another clan. There's no need to-"

"There's plenty need to. Whether he was from a clan or not doesn't matter. I've been looking for a way to secure the Eastern border, but that little clan hasn't done anything to instigate a battle. But _this_ would be enough to declare full out war on them. I mean, they did encroach on our territory and kill one of our newborns! Huh, maybe that petite little pixie did do something for us…" She trailed off again, and I could practically hear the gears in her head turning, and creating a demonic plan.

"You disgust me." I sneered.

"Perhaps, but you'll stay with us anyway because you have no where to go and no one to go with." She smirked and swaggered a little closer to me.

"No." I said, looking down into her evil crimson eyes. "I'm leaving. Now." Maria just smiled, always as calm as ever. I kicked off the grown and practically flew back into the trees, but I heard Maria speak to Lucy one last time before I was out of hearing range.

"He'll be back."


	14. Little White Lies

**Hello Everyone!**

**Hope you like this chapter. It's my longest chapter yet! Yay. I would've had it out sooner, but with Christmas and everything my co-author and I were pretty busy. You'll be happy to know that I'm over half-way through with the next chapter, so I should probably have it out before New Year depending on how long it takes my co-author to look it over. **

**Read and Review! **

**-TG**

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**Ignorance is Bliss/ Little White Lies**

**Jasper POV**

I watched our newest recruits' every move, studying their jerky, unorganized movements and uncertain expressions. It was almost amusing watching them try to cope with their new abilities and their corresponding emotions. They were so confused. Their new minds could wrap around so much more than before, that they could barely find information to fill that empty space. It was pathetic in a way- I mean, they were practically toddlers. Finally, I couldn't just observe. Unlike these amateurs, I didn't have to think about strategy. More than a hundred years of continuous battle and training had morphed my mind into instant strategy. There was no such thing as premeditation when your mind could think faster than you could you could blink.

So in one swift, fluid motion- so different from those of these amateurs -I had both recruits pinned in place. One had been lunging, one had been dodging. The dodging one couldn't have been more than 17 when he was changed. He didn't show any particular talent, but he was pure brawn. You could tell he was much better at lunging than dodging, considering the fact that it took longer for him to get so much solid mass out of the way. He had an army-like buzz cut, so he looked suited for fighting already. At that moment, I had that recruit pinned on the ground. A soldier's balance had to be absolutely perfect to reflect a blow, but his faulty balance made it it too easy to shove him face-first into the ground.

At the same time as this blow, I had the other recruit, a more lithe-looking creature that had an eerie, snake-like appearance to him, by the neck. He had shaggy black hair, which hung in his face shielding his red eyes, fresh from his first hunt. This recruit showed little promise in physical bulk, but he had an uncanny ability of stealth- even more so than the usual vampire. His attack was clearly atrocious: his stance was weak and awkward, and his arms were stretched at the wrong angles for a successful attack. In the same instant as I had taken down the big one, I had deflected this recruit's weak lunge and held him suspended in the air by his neck.

The dirt on the ground had picked up in my attack, and I could see the individual dust particles settling down around us again. I closed my eyes and used the full forces of my power, reaching deep into each of their emotions to sense their exact reactions. The big one was dumbfounded- slightly in awe -and the other one was afraid. He knew perfectly well that he wouldn't die if I was to crush his neck in my hand, but he knew it would hurt. If they joined forces, they could probably overtake me with their newborn strength, but they didn't dare cross me. I'd shown them who was in control, who had more experience.

There was a slow, thudding clap resounding through the clearing. The whole group had paused to watch my outburst of frustration for these newborns. Maria was the one clapping. Nettie let out a giggle, and Lucy had a knowing smirk on her face. The other newborns looked on sympathetically towards the new recruits, knowing well the pain of first training. Not wanting to provide a show, I dropped the recruit I had suspended in mid-air to his feet, and I flipped over the other with a swift nudge. They immediately sprung into their army stances, intimidated in the presence of all four leaders.

"See, Jasper, I knew you couldn't resist this for long... even with what's-her-name long gone." I winced. I had been distracting myself fairly well, keeping my thoughts of Alice on the back burner in my mind. I had been trying to focus on training, not because of the need to fight but because I needed something to keep me here where I needed to be -instead of in the meadow with Alice, where I wanted to be. But now that Maria mentioned even the idea of Alice, I couldn't help but think about her.

It had been exactly 223 hours, 43 minutes, and 27 seconds since I had left her side to rejoin this place. It had been exactly 58 hours, 9 minutes, and 56 seconds since I had last seen Alice. Last time I had seen her it had been... rough, to say the least. She had taken to sitting in the meadow, keeping her mind open for me so she could make sure I was safe. Her irises had been almost completely pitch black when I saw them last. There had only been a subtle difference between her pupils and irises, so small only a vampire could have noticed. As needy as her eyes looked, Alice wasn't showing any signs of pain. Every time I had visited her in the past week, she had assured me that she was fine... but just thinking about those hours that stretched between now and our last meeting, I longed to see her, to check on her again.

In the few seconds that passed while I thought to myself, no one moved. They were all waiting in anticipation for me to do something. Maria's emotions were the only steady ones. There was not a hint of anxiety in her feelings. Quite the opposite, actually. She was feeling a strange sense of gratification as she mistook my frustration and anger as a confirmation. She had this crazy idea that I couldn't resist a life of violence and war, and- to her -this only proved her point. Ever since I had arrived back at camp, I had remained aloof; always sneaking away to the meadow when I got a chance. Maria, however, had been trying to keep me busy with recruiting and training since the moment I stepped foot into of the clearing. That had made it hard to see Alice often without it looking suspicious.

I turned away from the group, walking at my full speed towards the edge of the clearing. I longed to see Alice. As I was reaching the edge of the clearing, I recognized a pair of footsteps sounding in sync with mine as they rushed to catch up.

"Another one or your walks, Jazzy?" Maria said in a sickeningly sweet voice. I cringed at the nickname, for it sounded wrong coming from any voice but Alice's.

"I was planning on it, yes." I replied, shirking from her subtly as she inched away the distance between us.

"If you wanted some company, I could-"

"I don't." I said quickly, trying desperately to lead her away from the direction I was actually going. Her feelings were hurt, but I didn't pay her any mind. Leaving her behind, I ran ahead, making a swerving path so it would be practically impossible for anyone except perhaps a Volturi tracker to find me. I waited until I was miles away from camp and from hearing distance to make my way towards the meadow.

I made it to the meadow in record time, my longing to see Alice driving me to go faster than I'd ever gone before. When I broke through the trees, I looked around the meadow for her. I could feel her emotions somewhere. That strange calm and giddy emotion that was unique to her seemed to surround the entire meadow. She was no where in plain sight...

Then I felt little soft hands wrap around my eyes and a voice that sounded like bell-chimes whisper, "Guess who?"

I smiled and wrapped my hands around the tiny wrists of my mystery person, and pulled her around to my front. I kept my eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of relief her presence brought to me as I wrapped my arms around her. I smiled when I felt her similar feelings of relief. I didn't want to open my eyes yet and face the truth. I couldn't see what the effects of her starvation were yet.

I delayed watching for a little while longer, whispering next to her ear, "How are you?" I wanted to be prepared for what I was about to see, maybe her status would give me an inclination of that.

"Now I'm wonderful." That didn't help. I would just have to see for myself.

Finally, I pulled away and braced myself for what I was about to see. Opening my eyes, I saw her. She was still my Alice, but she had obviously changed since the last time I had seen her. Her irises and pupils were pure pitch now, and the black looked to be spreading. Little veins of black were winding through the whites of her eyes like little lightning bolts protruding from the dark clouds of her iris. Even in the new, bright sunlight of morning her skin looked pallid. It was no longer sparkling, but merely shimmering beneath what looked to be a translucent layer of skin. I was staring at her face with a concerned look, and before long she touched her hand to her cheek self-consciously.

"What? What is it? Do I look that bad?" She said, a hint of worry escaping her words, but, strangely enough, not her emotions. Before I could think about her lack of changing emotions, she was walking away from me towards the reflective surface of the water. I didn't want her to have to see herself this way, so I quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into my chest.

I kissed her forehead gingerly and said, "You are beautiful." She smiled and closed her eyes, accepting the complement instead of risking seeing for herself. She took my hand that was still wrapped around her wrist in hers and walked with me slowly- well, for a vampire anyway.

"So, what's the update from camp? Any news?" _Yes_, I thought. Actually a lot had happened at camp. Maria had already found two new recruits- the two that I had just been "training." She was preparing for a full, blown-out war. I wanted to tell Alice about Maria's plans, but I was afraid of what this information might do to her. She was probably already suffering enough physical pain from her situation; I didn't want to add guilt and emotional pain by telling her about the plans for war.

I replied with a lie. "Oh, you know. Same old routine; training, drills, some more training..." I instantly felt bad about lying to Alice, and I was grateful that our gifts weren't reversed so she could feel my regret. I silently hoped that when someone, somewhere once said that "Ignorance was Bliss", they knew what they were talking about.

**Alice POV**

I took another deep breath and assumed a yoga-like pose; I was cross-legged on the soft ground. I had my eyes closed, and I was focused. I had to be in order to get a vision nowadays. I had been paying very close attention to my reaction to not eating. When I'd seen my reflection in the glass surface of a pool that had separated from the river, I'd seen that my eyes were getting darker and darker. It was spreading through the whites of my eyes like a demonic force taking over. Not only were my eyes being affected, but my "sight" as well. I'd noticed that visions weren't coming frequently or involuntarily anymore. I had to think about something or someone to have a vision about them, and even then I had difficulty. But I couldn't think about any of that now. I needed complete focus to have a vision, and I need to have a vision soon.

I pulled up a picture of Jasper in my head and focused on that. I paid attention to each contour in his face, and I thought of his voice when he spoke. There! I thought happily as a vision appeared. Jasper looked flustered as he walked through the forest, with Maria at his heels. I mentally scowled, but ignored her for now. I need to find the sun, the sun the sun..... the sun! The vision ended as I lost focus, but I had gotten what I needed. Jasper was on his way to see me in... ? I looked up at the sun to see how long until Jasper would be here. 45 minutes?! I needed more time. I needed to get to work.

For the past few days I had been doing one thing, and that was meditating. I had been sitting here in this spot, trying desperately to control my emotions. I thought of everything that made me emotional: When I wanted to be sad, I thought of my sister out there somewhere... and when I wanted to be angry, I thought of Maria. I think that now I've come to master the art of controlling my emotions. Sure, it was hard at first. Every time I thought of Bella, I told myself she would fall in love with someone she could grow old with and have a bunch of kids with. But then remorse came as I realized that I wouldn't ever get to meet my future nieces and nephews, and I would never grow old and have kids with Jasper. But that didn't happen any more, because there was no room for emotion when you're keeping a secret. Honestly- how are you supposed to keep a secret from the one person who can tell when you're feeling guilty?!

I mean, I wish I didn't have to keep secrets from Jasper. But there's a time in everyone's life where they have to tell just a little white lie to keep from hurting the one you love. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him, right?- at that thought I knocked on the bark of a tree. I didn't think I used to be a superstitious human, but when you're a vampire you tend to believe in the supernatural. All I know is that I love Jasper, so I can't tell him how much pain I'm in.

Darn it. I was doing so well... That was another good thing about meditation; it kept my mind from focusing on the agonizing burning feeling surging through my throat like some kind of acid reflux on steroids. As a moronic idea, I had actually tried to drink water just to see if it would put out the fire. It looked so cool and soothing, and it felt so good against my skin that I figured it had to feel just as good to my throat-- it didn't. After I had taken a sip, I had promptly spit the stuff out, revolted from the disgusting liquid that tasted terrible and- not only that -but also proceeded to make my throat ache more. It's been just over a week without eating, and while an experienced vampire like Jasper can withstand that long easily, I was a newborn. My strong, fresh muscles needed the kind of sustenance that I hadn't provided for them.

I waited out the last 42 minutes before Jasper would be there, anxiety building up in the pit of my stomach at the thought of putting my control to the test. Just thinking about Jasper's face, the one that mesmerized me, I doubted I'd be able to control my unsteady emotions.

I had just 2 minutes to go. As soon as I thought of what to do, I was already doing it (one of the perks of being a vampire, which I was still getting used to). I sprung up from where I was sitting and started running in one fluid motion. I stood exactly where I'd seen Jasper entering the meadow, trying to figure out the best hiding spot from his perspective. I saw an old tree with a trunk the size of a pillar. I ran behind it, completely hiding myself. I counted down until I heard Jasper's footsteps approaching. I closed my eyes and focused on staying calm and collected.

Finally, after he'd glanced around for about three seconds, I climbed up into the tree silently. I jumped lightly from branch to branch until I was in the tree directly behind Jasper. I jumped behind him before he could respond and reached up to wrap my hands around his eyes, and whispered, "Guess who?

I felt his face pull up in a smile before he reached up and captured one of my wrists in his hand, pulling me around to his front without protest. As he pulled me into an embrace, I noticed he kept his eyes close- probably to avoid seeing how I had been affected by not eating. I felt my emotions waver as I succumbed to the relief of being in his arms again. I tried to control my emotions again, focusing less on the intoxicating scent that surrounded me and more on controlling my emotions.

Always concerned for me, he whispered, "How are you?" into my ear. The reminder made the burning come back, but I pushed the thought into the back of my mind.

"Now I'm wonderful." It was true in some ways; I was always happier when I was with Jasper. But I wasn't wonderful- I was in pain. Ugh... there I go again.

Finally, Jasper pulled away from me, and I instantly missed being in his arms. His eyes widened as he took in my appearance, I could imagine his brain wrapping around the bruised-shadows under my eyes and the black spreading through my eyes. I knew what I looked like, but I was self-conscious anyway. As I put my hand to my face, I tried to control the worry in my emotions from showing. "What? What is it? Do I look that bad?" I said. I started walking towards the water, wanting to see if my appearance had changed since I had last looked at it. He pulled me back though before I could get away.

He kissed my forehead and said, "You are beautiful." _Liar._ I thought as I smiled and closed my eyes, hoping that if I couldn't see him, he wouldn't mesmerize me so much. I took his hand and started walking, hoping to talk about something other than my current condition.

"So, what's the update from camp? Any news?" I had been watching him, and this morning I had seen him take down two newborns that I didn't recognize. I had hoped at the time that these weren't what I thought they were, but in my mind I knew that these were the recruits that Jasper had warned me would inevitably be added to the army. In my heart, I was hoping Jasper would deny my suspicions.

"Oh, you know. Same old routine; training, drills, some more training..." I frowned to myself, hiding the hurt in my emotions as I realized he was lying to me. With a photographic memory, you don't just forget what people look like. Those two newborns were recruits, and he was helping to train them. I could sense it; I might not be an empath, but he was tense, wound up, as if preparing himself emotionally for battle. And I knew it as well as he did. There was a battle coming.

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**So? What did you think? Let me know!**


	15. No Need to Hide

**AND! The moment you've all been waiting for... Ok, just. Read. Haha, well I have to say this was a LOOONG chapter. It's my longest yet! Yay! My co-author LOVED this one, so I hope you do to. I was actually going to put more in this chapter, but I found that it was already sooo long, and this was a good place to start the next chapter.**

**Hope you like it! RxR**

**-TG**

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Chapter 14- No Need to Hide

Alice POV

I didn't know what Jasper was doing that made him unable to see me for two whole weeks, but whatever it was, I was grateful. Quite seriously, I don't know how I would cope if he came to see me. I wouldn't be able to tell when he was coming or his reaction since my visions had officially become impossible to reach. I couldn't let him see me this way-

At that thought, I strained extremely hard to crawl over to the reflective surface of the water to see how my face had changed. I was still sparkling a bit, but the color was… off. Instead of the white, heavenly glow that I normally had, it was a pale, ominous white like a spotlight of a car on your face in the dead of night. But my eyes were the worst. The black had completely spread through my eyes, terminating all the white they passed. Now my eyes appeared to be dark holes in my head. They were reflecting the water on the surface, and it made me look very bug-eyed. It wasn't a funny sight at all though; it was terrifying. I was scaring myself.

Not wanting to look at myself anymore, I turned back around and began to crawl back, but I couldn't reach where I was previously sitting so I laid down in the grass below me. I was having some trouble moving, if you hadn't already figure it out. My legs and my body were working fine, don't get me wrong, the problem was I couldn't get my brain to focus on anything besides the burning. I could no longer see my visions or control my emotions because those required some iota of focus, which I certainly didn't have. The only thing my brain seemed to wrap around anymore was I'm in pain, I'm in pain, it burns. The burning had almost reached the intensity of my change, but it wasn't nearly as bad because it was located in only one area instead of throughout my whole body. I could bare it for now, but I didn't even want to think about in a few weeks or even a few months when the pain increased and I'd probably be incapacitated... But I didn't want to think that far ahead, and I probably couldn't make any logical premonition as to what would happen to me, seeing as I was practically going delirious from pain.

I gritted my teeth, trying in some way to deflect the pain. I wanted so badly to put out the fire, but I would not hurt a human! I kept repeating that to myself, but at every "human" I could practically hear the monster inside of me yell in protest, starved and crazy. The monster seemed a lot closer to my conscious self than before... terrifyingly close. So close, in fact, I probably wouldn't have the self control I had before if I were to see a human right now. If I was in this state on the night of my hunt... well, I probably wouldn't be having a starvation problem, would I? Jasper's statement would have been right; I wouldn't have been able to control my self. Not with this monster practically whispering into my thoughts, "C'mon, one human won't hurt... Just one." And when put like that, it sounded so harmless and so inviting. What if that human was a serial killer? It would be kind of a "kill one, save a thousand" kind of thing. That wouldn't be so bad, right?

No! I wouldn't fall for this. Serial killer or not, it's not my decision who dies and who lives. I would not become a murderer, not now, not ever... But how could I live like this for the rest of my existence? It would hurt Jasper so much to see me like this… I don't even know if he would stay with me anymore. How can you bare to be around the one you love when they're putting themselves through such pain? There had to be another way, some way around these extreme measures.

As soon as that thought occurred to me, many things happened at once. First, a young doe stepped into the meadow. It grazed on the grass for a minute before it started to jump around the meadow quickly, but to me it seemed as if it was going in slow motion. As it passed me, I could see the blood flowing through its veins, and I could hear its heart beating so loud I could feel the vibrations of the sound waves. The world around the deer seemed to disappear into a dizzying blur, but I could see the deer perfectly. The monster had stopped yelling, and was now watching closely, confused as to what to do about this deer. And I didn't know either, until-

My first involuntary vision in three weeks came to me:

The vision was somewhat blurry and imperfect, kind of like an exaggerated form of my memories of visions as a human.

_There were five people running through a damp wood, an eerie blue light shining on them through the canopy of the trees. In the back of the group there was a flash of gold and brown, then in the middle were two more of about the same color, and in the front their was something different; a flash of bronze. I soon realized that these were these people's hair colors as it blew behind them from the speed at which they were running. They were running so fast that they must have been vampires, though on closer inspection something seemed off about them- something was different. _

_I watched as they ran on for a little while longer, never saying anything, though the one in front appeared to nod every now and then like someone was talking to him. It was then that a realized that the bronze-haired one was a boy. Then there was a blond man and a brown-haired woman, followed by a beautiful blond woman and a huge, overly-muscular man with short, dark brown curls. Finally, something happened. The one in front jumped into the tree, springing from branch to branch before he tackled a mountain lion that had been sleeping on a boulder. I hadn't even been aware of the huge cat's presence, but the vampires had clearly sensed them. The others filed out and proceeded to kill the other two mountain lions. _

_The three that had captured the mountain lions drank from them, while the other two hunted more. The big one ran a few miles away before he found a humongous grizzly bear that seemed irritable from being woken from its nap. And lastly, I saw the brown-haired woman find a large deer. It was intimidating- seeing a woman so small and petite take down an animal twice the size of her own body, but that's what vampires can do. She was feeding from the neck of the deer, and as I saw blood trickle down the animal's neck from its wound, the monster in me drooled. Then, the woman looked up almost as if she could see me watching her. The way she looked in my direction made me think that she might be able to see me. That's when I noticed the difference between these vampires and the one's I was used to; her eyes were golden. _

Now that I thought about it, I'd seen that all of their eyes were golden, though they had been darker before they fed. What were these people? Were they some different type of vampire? Or was this the way out I had been searching for? Before I could ponder that question, the vision changed.

_The same group of vampires emerged out of the trees and began running in the direction of a house. Could they be hunting humans now? I soon realized that this wasn't the home of some poor human victim, but the home of these vampires. It was so strange watching them walk through the doors of this huge house and act like humans after they had just hunted like animals. My vision traveled through the house, and I got a tour of practically every room. _

_The vision began to recede from the house. It zoomed backwards through the trees until it reached an old road, abandoned of cars. It paused at a wooden sign next to the road that read "The City of Forks Welcomes You."_

As the vision ended, the epiphany hit. The deer was still there a few feet away. It seemed curious of me but wary still. It wanted to see what I was, but it also knew I was dangerous. I kept perfectly still, playing dead. I wasn't sure if this would work, but it could be my way out of life as a murderer (of humans). I was excited and nervous at the same time, and for the first time in a while the pain in my throat seemed minimal in my anticipation. I was hoping, praying, this would work, but I wasn't sure. And there was only one way to find out.

I willed my legs and my arms to work again, and in one motion I sprung at the deer. Before it could get away, I had it pinned to the ground. I hit it on the head to kill it, as quickly and painlessly as I could in my still-delirious state. Now was the moment of truth. I lowered my head to its neck and pierced the flesh there easier than butter. Finally, I drank from the wound. The taste wasn't exactly appetizing, but the warm blood cooled the fire down a little. It was one of the most wonderful sensations both because the pain was decreasing in intensity and because now I knew that there was another way.

Excited, I quickly buried the deer and listened around for the sound of more wildlife. I closed my eyes, listening to the forest, smelling for the scent of blood, and feeling the earth for the beat of hooves. I sensed a small group of deer about half a mile away and immediately ran.

In ten minutes, I was so full I thought I was about to explode. The burning in my throat had ceased to an infinitesimal amount. It was more like a warmth now than a burning, a comfortable heat. I ran around the meadow happily, completely able to use the full ability of my limbs. My vision was brighter, my hearing clearer. Finally, I went the water to see myself. My eyes and my sparkle were both back to normal. Well, my eyes weren't normal anymore. They weren't gold or red now, they were more of a reddish-orange color. They definitely weren't the terrifying blood-red of a normal vampire. This color was clearly different. Maybe they would change to that beautiful gold color eventually, but for now this was good.

I felt refreshed and more alive than I had been in a while. I needed to get out of this meadow. I realized then that there was no need to stay here anymore, because there was no need to hide anymore. I didn't know what challenges returning would bring, but I was ready for them. With my muscles and limbs feeling rejuvenated, I began my sprint towards the camp.

Jasper POV

Four recruits. It was a personal record for our army, but it probably broke the world record. I'd never even heard of an army larger than eighteen newborns, but we had a grand total of 20 newborns and four leaders. According to our scouts, the other clan had added two, but there numbers still didn't come close to ours. With a mere 16 newborns and two leaders, I could tell it wouldn't be a close battle. It would be quick and easy, with minimal fatalities. I looked over our numbers, imagining a few of the newborns disappearing, as if they never existed. That's how it would be afterwards; they would disappear from all thoughts or memories. No one would grieve for them- at least not for their personality. Maria might grieve the loss of a good soldier, but she would never grieve the loss of someone she liked for their personality, not unless I was to die. Like that would ever happen. Out of all the soldiers here, I was probably the least likely to perish in battle. I was too careful, too experienced.

We were doing drills again, but I wasn't paying much attention. I muttered a "good" or a "Keep your stance" every now and then, but I wouldn't be able to tell you who I was talking to, or what about. I was thinking about Alice at the moment. I hadn't been able to bring myself to go back there yet- not that I had the chance in the past two weeks. After my last visit, I dreaded seeing the pain in those dark eyes. I was so worried that she was withering away, and I wasn't there to see her, to care for her. I wanted so much to see her well I again. To see her smile again. To kiss her without the fear that she was in horrible pain from starvation. I imagined her smiling in my head, her dark hair bouncing as she laughed, and her beautiful eyes returned to their original warm brown, though that would never happen now. It frustrated me, how she was so dead set on being different. The status quo might not be favorable, but it was safe for her. I wouldn't have to see her in pain anymore. I wished with all my power that there was another way. A way she could be healthy and happy at the same time. A way that wouldn't grip her or I with guilt. A humane way.

"Jasper? What are you doing?" Maria had her arms crossed, and a look that meant business was etched on her face.

"Whatever do you mean, Maria?" I said, innocently. I looked around finally, taking in my surroundings. I was supposed to be training two of the new recruits, while Lucy and Nettie had the other two. My two were seriously lost, fumbling about like toddlers in need of direction. They did need direction, but I wasn't in the mood to give it.

"I mean this." Maria stepped in the middle of the two newborns. It was a dangerous move if you think about it. Newborns could crush you if they got a hold of you, and directly in front of them was not a place you wanted to be when they were sparring. But Maria knew what she was doing. She was almost as good as I, ducking beneath the lunge and grabbing both newborns by the calf before she tossed them in a heap 15 yards away. "That! That's what I mean. These... idiots are useless to me! You're supposed to be making them useful, but No; you're over here day dreaming."

The two recruits had scrambled back up and proceeded with their sparring, trying desperately to get away from Maria's attention. They didn't have to worry about that, because Maria wasn't paying any attention to them any more. She was too busy with me.

"Forget to teach recruits, what about your status, Jasper?" She said, beginning to circle me. She was in battle stance, and in a position that was ready for lethal attack. I followed her with my eyes without moving my body, listening to her speech. "Have you sparred or practiced tactics once since your little girlfriend died? No; you've been too busy on your little 'walks'. What have you been doing on your little walks anyway? Reporting to the other clan? Well? What is it? What on Earth could you be doing for hours at a time? You can't be seriously mourning your little girlfriend for that long, really?"

I took a deep breath and spread a feeling of calm towards her. It wasn't often that Maria's emotions changed, but when they did, I pretty much knew something bad was going to happen. I had known this wouldn't work. I knew Maria would gather sooner or later that I wasn't alone on my 'walks'. As she circled around my back, I turned my head towards her, still watching her out of my peripheral vision. From her stance, I could tell she was going to attack me. I didn't quite know what to expect from her, considering the only time she ever attacks one of our own is when she kills the vampires we don't need anymore or the newborns that have tried to escape.

I waited for her emotions to change, registering her imminent attack. Finally, after a long six seconds of circling, she lunged for me. I ducked beneath the blow she threw, and threw one of my own. It just barely missed the skin of her neck as she leaned backwards at the waist to dodge it. We were in an odd sort of dance, moving around the field in synchronization. We were evenly matched for a while, but I was advancing on her. The space in between her skin and my hands as I lunged forward ready to tear her apart decreased significantly. There was only a minimal amount of fear in her emotions, but I used that to my advantage, faking one blow and throwing another. I was mere seconds away from a damaging attack when I saw the flash of color in the trees around us. Something was running around the perimeter of the field—circling an army of vampires. I took a moment to reach out towards its emotions, but that instant was enough for Maria to take a lead. Before I knew what happened, I was pinned to the ground beneath her, her teeth at my neck posed for the kill. Though I should have been worried that she was about to tear me apart, I was more focused on finding whatever it was that I'd seen. In that second of suspense while Maria decided what to do with me, I reached out towards the forest, after searching for about a third of a second, I found it; an emotion that wasn't coming from the army, Lucy, Maria, or Nettie. For a tenth of a second I was confused, because the only emotions coming from the forest were a minimal of fear and a lot of jealousy.

After scanning around for something that one could be jealous of. Sheepishly, I realized the compromising position I was in: Maria was straddling me, with her teeth hovering above my neck. With that observation, I immediately knew who my mystery person was. I had figured it out in less than a second- that's how blatantly obvious it was.

Finally, I returned my full concentration- well, almost full because I couldn't help but think about the mysterious intruder hiding in the trees- to my situation. Knowing who was in the trees, it was hard for me to think that I might be killed in the next few seconds. I was relieved when Maria raised her head and smiled triumphantly, saying, "My, My, Jasper. It seems you have lost your touch..." She still hadn't gotten off of me, and it was annoying me. I needed to leave this field. To do that, I needed to make a convincing scene; one where everyone knew that I was fed up, that I truly needed to leave to be by myself. I thought of a plan and put it into action at the same time.

Maria was staring down at me, judging my reaction with a wry smile. I looked away, avoiding her gaze as if I felt defeated. Before she could tell what I was doing, I lunged forward throwing her back a good fifty yards before I was tackling her. I was crouched next to her, holding her by the neck. I held her tightly, and I could feel her neck depress as if it were breaking beneath my grasp. Her eyes winced slightly, but her lips were pulled back over her teeth in fury. She was snarling, but I didn't let her go. I whispered to her, though our audience would be able to hear it easily. "I've only lost a few things before; one of them is my humanity, and with it, my mortality and weakness. The other is the girl I love." I paused and let an angry frown appear on my face. "Yes, those I have lost, but one thing I have definitely not lost is my touch. You would do well to remember that." With my last word, I released her. She stood up, visibly fuming.

"The only reason you're here anymore, Jasper, is because you can fight. I am the leader, not you, and if you even think about stepping out of line once more than I will happily 'forget' to hold back next time." She said it loud enough for even a human to hear, and though her voice level was loud, she wasn't yelling. She remained eerily calm still. "I'm not afraid of killing you, Mr. Whitlock. You would do well to remember that."

I laughed humorlessly; it came out as a dark, almost menacing chuckle. I was still crouched, and then I placed one hand on the soft earth. To a human, it might look like I was keeping my balance, but that was obviously not the case. I felt the vibrations around the field, reaching out in the forest until I felt the almost infinitesimal vibrations coming from the trees directly in front of me. The movement was so light, it could have been a small house cat jumping from tree to tree- that is, if a house cat could jump from tree to tree at a speed faster than a car racing down the freeway.

"Who said I'd let you kill me, Maria?" I smiled, and with those departing words, sprung forward towards the trees. As I hit the deeper part of the trees, I realized I was being followed. Well, not 'followed' exactly, but joined. As I ran at my full speed on the ground, there was someone in the trees directly above me or to the side of me. After I had run a reasonable distance from camp I paused abruptly, but the other being still moved forwards in the trees before it circled around and came back. As this person circled in the trees around me, I could hear her tinkling laughter resounding around me.

"Alice..." I drew out her name. "What are you doing here?" I didn't say it condescendingly, but curiously. I didn't know why or how she got to me safely. She must be going crazy from thirst, right? How could she have the energy or concentration to make it to me discreetly?

Alice ignored me as she stopped in the tree above me. I looked up to see her petite form leaning against the trunk of the tree, while one foot was resting on a branch. The other foot hang limp over the branch. She was easily 30 feet up in the tree, but I could see her smile as I found her. She ignored my question and spoke, "You know, Jasper, normally I wouldn't condone my boyfriend hitting a girl..." She trailed off as she jumped from the branch, spiraling in a somersault through the air, narrowly missing each branch. As she reached me, I caught her. She giggled and quickly kissed me on the lips, and I could feel her smile beneath mine. She pulled away and continued, "But for her, I think I can make an exception."

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**Sooo? Whadja think?**


	16. Confessions

**Hey everybody!**

**So just a few things about this chapter and things in general.**

**I started reading Twilight guy's reviews on the book. He's basically just a college guy venturing into the world that teenage girls have been crazed over. If you haven't read them, go. Go do it now! (Well, you can read the chapter first. :D ) It's pretty simple, just go to w w w . twilight guy . com (without spaces) then go to "Twilight" and look at his chapter by chapter reviews! He's funny and has some very good observations about the book.**

**Also, did you hear that they're considering Dakota Fanning for the part of Jane in the New moon movie?? Give me some feedback, I'd like to know your opinion. I didn't picture Jane so young, but if that's supposed to be her age than I can easily imagine Dakota being a magnificent Jane. I can easily see her as an evil sadistic vampire with some seriously torturous jedi mind tricks. Her brother Alec is supposed to look just like her. What actor would you pick for her twin brother, Alec?**

**You may have also heard: Is it a rumor that Ben Barnes is being considered for the part of Aro? I just can't imagine it... He doesn't seem like a sadistic, power-hungry vampire lord to me. Tell me what you think.**

**Also! If you haven't looked at my profile before, check it out because I have a picture of Jasper and Alice's meadow there. It's a day-time picture, but it's what I imagined for their special place.**

**Enjoy the chapter! Tell me what you think about the New Moon cast, I'd love to know. Who do you think should be cast for each New Moon character (other than those already casted in Twilight. They still need to cast the rest of the wolf pack, Emily, and the entire Volturi guard.)**

**-TG**

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Alice POV

I began to hear the sounds of fighting coming from the field, which wasn't surprising. All the army did was fight and practice fighting, so these sounds were inevitable. But this sound was different—It wasn't the feral snapping of jaws as the newborns lunged at each other. In fact, there wasn't much sound to be heard. There was an eerie silence settling over the field, like a cloud of tension and anticipation. I halted where I was, not daring to close the small distance between the field and me. I listened carefully, recognizing only one sound at first: a high-pitched snarling growl sounding from what could only be Maria. If the sound had come from anyone else I wouldn't have worried nearly as much, but Maria was almost always sickeningly calm. I'd seen her come close to attacking me, but even then she didn't raise her voice or growl or snarl or do anything that would hint at hostility. So it was understandable that I was nervous.

I listened, straining to hear _some_ other sound that would give me a hint as to who this growl was directed at. I knew deep in my gut who it was, but I yearned for something that would prove me wrong. As I heard the wind change and the growl increase in volume I realize she had attacked someone. And as I heard a different snarl, I realized with dread whom she had attacked. This growl was a deep rumbling that I could feel in my chest. It made me shiver with fear as I heard the sound come from _my_ Jasper.

This time, I didn't hold back as I ran. I circled the perimeter of the field, looking through the gaps in the trees for him. I was running so fast that I was almost hovering above the ground. I used my immaculate strength to launch me in the air every time I took a step. I was still remembering to be quiet, and I doubted that anyone would notice me while _that _was going on in front of them.

I looked on, watching Maria and Jasper battle in the middle of the field. Neither of them had made contact with the other, but I could see Jasper's lunges came threateningly closer each time. This brought only minimal relief to me as I watched, for the battle could turn unexpectedly at any moment. Now Maria's back was turned to me, and Jasper faced me head on. I slowed considerably, scrutinizing his face for any hint of pain or harm. He was so close to reaching Maria, the suspense was tearing me apart. I wanted Maria _gone_. How _dare _she attack my Jasper. I longed to step in, to punish her for even thinking about harming him. I closed the little distance between me and the field slowly, only running at normal speed. The two turned so Jasper was facing me again.

I was dangerously close to the scene; so close, in fact, that for a split second of complete horror Jasper looked up and it seemed like he met my gaze. This was the turn for the worse – the worse that I'd been expecting and dreading. For in that moment where Jasper noticed me, Maria took the advantage and tackled him against the ground. Before I could blink, her teeth were at his neck. I wanted to close my eyes to avoid watching him be torn apart, but I couldn't avert my gaze. My eyes were wide with panic and fear. If she killed him, it would be completely my fault. In less than a half second I imagined my existence without him: Dark guilt would consume me as I lived alone. Everything I'd traded in for this life- my mortality, my humanity, my life, my sister and best friend, my Bella –would be beyond my reach. The one thing that I'd subconsciously walked to my death for would be gone. Everything I existed for, everything I had sacrificed for would be gone. And in that half second of thought, I felt like I would heave if I could.

Without thinking about it for more than one hundredth of a second, I ran towards a tall tree, jumping into it's branches and propelling myself to the top. When I could see the scene better, my emotions changed. I was watching Jasper's face as his eyes strained past Maria's face, and he focused on the area where he had seen me, when I noticed Maria's position. She was straddling _my _boyfriend, and she had her lips- not her teeth –millimeters from _my _Jasper's neck. With grudging realization I thought, _Oh, __**no**__ she didn't!_ I didn't know what kind of sick, dominatrix move she was pulling on my man but it took all my energy _not_ to launch myself at her neck and pull her head off… And all of her other limbs… And burn each individual piece… _Slowly._

I kept observing, watching as Jasper's face lit up with something I couldn't exactly place. Finally, Maria lifted her head (but she still didn't get off my man) and spoke, "My, My, Jasper. It seems you have lost your touch..." I gripped the branch below me, and- though it was at least a foot in circumference- it threatened to snap in my hold. It did little to placate the feeling that I needed to go down there and protect him, even if he didn't need protecting.

After a second, he put his face to the side with a defeated look that practically ripped my heart out. Even though I knew Maria's intent wasn't to harm Jasper, but to seduce him in some sick way that I couldn't comprehend; it killed me to see him so defeated. Could he really _not_ see that she was just trying to get to him? Now that I was "gone," she had no competition. She was taking her chance, even though her chance didn't actually exist. I was still here, closer than she knew… close enough to attack her _right now._ It took a lot of will power to convince myself that I wouldn't risk it, even though I wanted to _so_ badly.

I soon realized that the defeated look was just a ruse. Something in me rejoiced as I saw Jasper throw Maria away from him in disgust. He held her by the neck as he spoke, "I've only lost a few things before; One of them is my humanity, and with it, my mortality and weakness. The other is the girl I love." My heart lurched at his words, for I could feel the genuine sadness there. Did he think he was going to lose me? "Yes, those I have lost, but one thing I have definitely _not_ lost is my touch. You would do well to remember that." To my chagrin, he released her. If I had her in my clutches like that, there would be nothing to stand in my way of ripping her apart.

"The only reason you're here anymore, Jasper, is because you can fight. _I_ am the leader, not you, and if you even _think_ about stepping out of line once more than I will happily 'forget' to hold back next time." Her voice was loud, and her normal level of calm was off.

I didn't pay much attention to Maria, for Jasper was crouched on the ground with a hand against the earth. I didn't quite know what he was doing, but it didn't matter. I heard him mutter, "Who said I'd _let _you kill me, Maria?" and watched him run into the trees directly below me. He kept running forward, even though he probably knew I was behind him. I began jumping from tree to tree at a pace just as fast as running. Soon enough I was next to him running in some unintelligible direction. Finally, after a long period of running he halted, but I kept jumping through the trees until I was circling around him, looking for the tree directly above him.

" Alice ..." I heard him say. "What are you doing here?" I laughed and climbed high into the tree above him, until I was a good distance away from the ground. He looked up to me and smiled. I couldn't help but feel relieved to see him unscathed. I felt overwhelmed by the fact that he was here in front of me. After seeing so much hostility centered at him, he seemed breakable now. Before it had seemed like he was invincible- my own personal superman.

Though my emotions were far from light, I wanted my words to sound like it. "You know, Jasper, normally I wouldn't condone my boyfriend hitting a girl..." I didn't finish the sentence. Instead, I jumped from the branch; absolutely certain he would catch me. I tumbled through the air, and the diminishing distance between us seemed far too long. Finally I was in his arms again, and something inside me breathed a sigh of relief when I was back where I belonged. Unable to help myself, I giggled and kissed him, smiling the whole time. I continued, "But for _her, _I think I can make an exception."

He laughed at my joke, but there was a hint of bitterness in it. "I think that's fair. Anyway, I would consider Maria more like 'Spawn of Hell' than 'girl'..." Jasper and I laughed, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, wanting to be as close as physically possible to him. I had my head against his shoulder when he pulled my face up with his hand, looking into my eyes. I would have given anything to have known what he was thinking when he saw my eyes; so subtly different from the bright red that you might think you were hallucinating if that were possible for a vampire. I smiled and waited patiently for him to ask the question.

"How?" Was all he asked. I stepped down from his arms, wanting to stand. He seemed as disappointed as I to be away from each other, but I wanted to appropriately see his reaction to what I was about to tell him.

"I have a confession." I said, with only a hint of regret in my voice. His eyes were pleading, wanting me to continue. I turned around, staring towards the trees as if I couldn't bare to look at his face. "For the past few weeks, I've been in pain. When you've asked me how I've been, I've lied to you. My throat has burned incessantly, my eyes were completely pitch black, I couldn't focus enough to even move, and my power was absolutely useless." I looked to his face to see the pain and hurt etched there. I could practically feel what he was feeling. His forehead was creased with confusion. He looked into my eyes, and I let him really feel my emotions. I dropped the barriers I'd been keeping up that had guarded me from letting my emotions show. There wasn't need for barriers anymore, because I wasn't going to lie to him anymore.

I let the joy from all my revelations radiate from me, and, like metal gravitating to some strange magnet, he was near me again, holding my face between his hands as he kissed the top of my head. "You are _so_ strong, my Alice. I don't know how you've done it. You should have told me sooner, I could have helped you-" I shook my head and silenced him with a kiss.

I looked into his eyes and said with pure honesty, "Jasper, look at me... I'm _okay._" He searched my eyes for some inclination that there was truth in my words.

When he seemed satisfied with what he saw, he spoke again. "But _how_ are you okay? I mean, did you...eat?" Before I could object, he continued rambling on at a pace that was hard for even me- a vampire- to follow. "Because if you did, I completely understand. You have nothing to be ashamed of and..." He kept speaking in a frantic tone, but I just smiled and shook my head. I touched my finger to his lips and they stopped vibrating automatically.

"Shh." I whispered. "I didn't hurt a human." He almost interrupted me again, but with one look from me, he quieted himself. I pulled back slightly, and he let me out of his arms with a frown. I wanted to be able to show him how okay I really was. I wanted to really explain in detail without him mesmerizing all the fervor out of me.

"I had a vision. It was so strange because I hadn't had an involuntary vision in weeks! Normally, I have visions frequently. And it would seem, since I have this new, amazing sight that my premonitions would only get clearer. Don't get me wrong -they were! My first vision as a vampire was like nothing I could describe to you. It was beyond mere sight; I could practically _feel_ the coming future. It was absolutely incredible! But that all changed.

When all I could think about was the pain of starvation, I couldn't exactly focus enough to look into the future. But this particular vision was unique, because it involved people I'd never even met before. Never before have I had a vision that didn't involve someone I know or love- well, not that I can remember at least. These people were strange, beautiful vampires, unlike the ones I've seen here. They even looked different. They had golden eyes, and get this-" I paused for effect. Jasper furrowed his brow, anxious to solve this mystery. I smiled and spoke slowly, "They drank from _animals." _

I gave him time to comprehend what I was saying, even though his mind would have- no doubt - computed what this meant a few hundred milliseconds ago. It seemed like the crease on his forehead only deepened, and- on his beautiful, pale skin -it looked like folded marble, if that was possible.

He finally spoke, slow and deliberately, "So you tried it...?" The phrase ended in a question and I nodded with the biggest smile on my face, waiting for the cheering to begin. When the cheering never came, I frowned. Jasper had his face turned to the crowd, the crease still as deep as ever.

"Jazz... aren't you happy? I guess if you don't want to try it, I won't force you to at the moment..."

"No, that's not it. It's just so hard to take in. Over a century of thinking and being told that I'm a monster and nothing is going to change that, so I might as well accept it... It's just hard to comprehend that there's always been a way out, and I haven't even considered the possibility that-"

"Jasper! Stop kicking yourself over this! I had help, and I'm here for you now! That's _all_ that matters now. I'm here for you. We can do this together! I don't have to live in seclusion anymore, and you don't have to endure this any longer! Now that we don't have to hurt anyone in the process of leaving, we can leave in peace!" The smile stretched across my face felt like it would never leave, and I wasn't disheartened that Jasper still looked puzzled.

Finally, his face smoothed, and he sobered from his thought process. "That's just it." The smile faded from my face as I heard the dead tone in his voice. "We'll be hurting people anyway, Alice. I didn't tell you in your...condition. Maria created four more newborns. She's declared war on the other coven. There set for battle in ten days time." This was what I'd been subconsciously waiting for; I had known instinctively that there was going to be a battle, all that I was waiting for was a date. I just hadn't realized it would be so _soon._ My cheery mood evaporated as I tried to think of something, _anything _that would fix this.

"We could still leave, right? I mean, we can't stay just stay here, but Maria wouldn't just let you leave, would she?" I sounded pleading, but I knew deep down that there wasn't hope left for us.

"I've seen someone try to leave before. Maria would send reinforcements to track us. We might be able to hold them off if we got a good enough head start, but even then, we'd be running non-stop. The trackers wouldn't cease until we were long gone. Having a newborn army isn't exactly an easy process; if our strategy gets out they could not only get the lower hand in a battle, but- in a battle as big as the imminent one- we could also have an intervention." His mouth was pressed into a hard line.

"An interven-?" I began to ask, but my voice cut off and my eyes widened. I took in the scene around me. Suddenly, there was so much going on around me. Ear-shattering screams pierced the air, and purple plumes of smoke and ash billowed in the air. I didn't know what was happening. There was fighting all around me, and I couldn't find Jasper any where. It had seemed like he was right in front of me just one second ago-

I saw Jasper's retreating and fighting figure. He was being overtaken by a much larger, shadowy vampire with blood-red eyes. As the formidable figure swiped at Jasper and caught his right shoulder with the steely nails of his hands, I wanted to scream in rage, but for some reason I couldn't move or make a sound. I could see other vampires being torn apart limb from limb, and I could hear the gut-wrenching sound of the unnatural flesh being ripped. It all sickened me, but I couldn't physically look away. I thought that this couldn't get worse, when I heard it; the only sound that could reach me through the chaos occurring in front of my eyes. It was a bone-chilling cry that could only have come from the person I loved- Jasper


	17. No Hope

**Hey, sorry for the wait! I've been really busy, so it's been hard to get this to my co-author and get it on here! **

**So, I believe it's official now! Dakota Fanning will be portraying the part of Jane in the New Moon movie. I think she'll be a great actress for the part, what do you think?**

**So this chapter is a bit shorter than the previous chapters, but it was necessary. **

**-TG**

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Chapter 16- No Hope

Alice POV

I longed to immediately whip around at my full speed to see what could have hurt him. It didn't matter what it was- whatever hurt him would die. I would make sure of it. It felt like an out of body experience, but I was still _in _my body. It was like I couldn't control anything that I did, I just had to sit and stay for the ride. Finally, tantalizingly too slow, I saw Jasper. He was on his knees, his face morphed into a mask of pain, as though he was being twisted and pulled apart. But no one was even touching him. He was in one piece, but he looked as if he was emotionally being torn apart. I followed his gaze and saw what he was looking at. My brain started to function as I realized what I was looking at- or should I say, _who_ I was looking at. There, twisted and scratched until the body was almost unrecognizable, was… me. I watched in horror as the part of me that still resembled my head winced and writhed under the gaze of a cloaked, short figure that looked almost like a young girl. I didn't know what was happening to me- that was me right? Could this be a vision? If this was a vision, was this going to happen? It wasn't enough pain just to watch it?

I guess it wasn't enough to just watch myself being torn apart. Another figure approached my writhing parts. I don't know how, but fire spewed from his hand and caught on me like I was as frail and flammable as paper. But still, it wasn't enough torture to watch myself being burned alive, my silhouette barely visible at the base of the flames. It couldn't have been enough punishment for me, because then I saw Jasper run after me: after me, into the inferno like he was entranced by a siren trying to lure him to walk into hell. He was burning alive while trying to reach me, even though there was no way to save me. I wanted to scream at him, "No! You can't die, you can't go after me! Go back!" But I couldn't. I was just an observer, because this was a vision. This was my future.

Finally I was relieved from the sight of our mangled, incinerating bodies as the vision slowly revolved around the field before me. There were so many columns of fire. I could smell the putrid smell of the burning flesh, and I could distinctly discern recognizable scents; My own scent, Jasper's , Nettie's, Lucy's, Maria's, and all of the mixed aroma of scents from that training camp, now distorted by the pungent odor of the fire and ash. With dread, I realized that this was what would happen to the army. In an attempt to be peaceful, I had angered the fates enough to cause this… massacre. At last, my vision turned away from the plumes of purplish-black smoke. I was focused on a line of black against the line of trees around the field. The figures were perfectly still, and they all wore dark gray or black cloaks with hoods that framed their frightening, beautiful faces. They were liked Angels of Death. In one motion, they turned and ran together. The vision ended, but I still couldn't see the real world around me. Maybe this was what death felt like to a vampire. Complete nothingness, complete isolation except for the company of your own thoughts.

It truly felt like I was in Limbo, stuck between Earth and Hell. I felt like I was in a state of shock, whether that was possible or not for a vampire. This vision was unlike any I'd had before. There was no premeditation to the vision- it was just there, every torturous second of it felt real. Usually, I would feel the vision happening, but be aware that there was the real world around me. But this _was_ the real world. It felt like I was experiencing the truth in the vision, and the real world was a lie. It completely changed my perspective. Was my world a vision and my vision's the real world? It seemed like I was trapped in the twilight zone of the vampire world, where nothing is as it seems and nothing is right.

I felt like I was being shaken, and it took me a few seconds before I realized that I actually was being shaken. Finally, I opened my eyes, not realizing that I had closed them. It pained me to see Jasper's face. He looked so worried, and I hadn't even told him that he and I wouldn't be here in only a short time. I took his face in my hands quickly and pulled him to me, wanting- no, needing –to know that he was still with me. I kissed him fervently, like it was the last time I would ever kiss him. My breath caught in my throat, and I realized I was crying. Not wet, with tears and sobs, but I was crying nonetheless. Jasper, still worried, pulled my face away and looked deep into my eyes.

"Alice, what's wrong? What just happened?" He spoke quickly, and it was hard to register what he was saying when my mind was focused on memorizing every curve and every scar on his beautiful face. I was going to die soon, and if I could carry one memory with me to wherever it was that I was going, it would be what his face looked like… and the sound of his voice when he spoke to me… and the way he protected me when I was in danger; so undeniably so that it would ultimately be his death. I shook my head quickly side to side, wanting the truth of that to be denied. I would do anything for that to be false. I wanted him to stop loving me, just for now, if that meant he wouldn't run into the flames after me. Anything that would mean he wouldn't die for me.

"Alice! Alice, speak to me! What's wrong? What happened to you?" He repeated. I stopped shaking my head and took a deep breath.

"I-It's not what happened. It's what's going to happen!" I had tried to keep my voice slow and even, but towards the end I failed, the words coming out jumbled and too fast. Jasper blinked, still confused.

"What do you mean? What's going to happen?" He was obviously frustrated. He didn't know what could have made me like this. He had no idea that _he_ was the one who had made me like this; He and his stupid, self-sacrificial tendencies.

"Gone. Everyone; you, me, the army –we'll all be gone. There's no hope anymore." Saying the words aloud only made them seem more dismally true. My voice- the normally beautiful, tinkling sound that now sounded grave and somber –had no hope in the tone. My whole being was rejecting the world now, as if it was preparing itself for the impending doom.

Jasper still confused and completely unaware of the fact that I couldn't even emotionally handle speaking now (which he probably should have been able to do, considering his gift), continued, "Alice! Talk to me! What do you mean 'Gone'?"

There was frustration in my voice now. Why couldn't he just understand that we had mere days left to be together? "I mean the battle, Jasper! This completely pointless war that Maria has started all because of me!" Jasper looked still confused, and I- unable to take it any longer- took his face between my hands, this time with anger in frustration instead of longing like it had been mere minutes before. "Jasper! Listen to me. We. Are. All. Going. To. Die. Every single one of us. You! Me! Maria, Nettie, Lucy, the army! No one will survive this battle. You will fight. I'll try to protect you. I'll be annihilated, and you'll follow me into death."

Jasper, finally registering the information I'd been trying to drill into his mind, went blank with shock. "How is that… possible? With our tactics and instinct, there is never more than a few fatalities. How can such a small army do so much damage?"

I shook my head, gesturing with my hands in denial of his statement. "It's possible. I saw it; they were different. I haven't seen many vampires, but these vampires were clearly, very different. There was this- this girl, who was just looking at me and it hurt me, made me writhe in pain. And this man who caught the pieces on fire with something or some power. And they did it so quickly and so organized that it must have been well planned. They came as one and left as one, and they all wore black cloaks that-"

"What did you say?!" Jasper exclaimed, suddenly recognizing something in my explanation. I furrowed my forehead, thinking of what I could have said that made him so fervent for an explanation.

"The girl? The strategy? The dark cloaks?" I named them off, trying to guess at what it could be.

I saw a reflection of my emotions in his eyes, though I doubted it was coming from just me this time as much as it came from the both of us. "That wasn't the other army." He said calmly, with absolutely no intonation in his voice. Something about the monotone of his voice made the words seem even more threatening and terrifying. "No doubt, the other army died as well if they even made it to the field."

"Do you know who it was?" I replied, both dreading and anticipating the answer. I could hear the fear lining every word in his statement. That frightened me more than anything. What could be so terrifying that it could scare a vampire?

He answered my question. "The Volturi. It seems that we have prompted an intervention after all."

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**Sorry for the cliffy! I'm already half-way through the next chapter, so I'll try to at least have that up by this weekend. But enjoy this story while it lasts! It's coming to a close soon... but don't worry. I have some tricks still up my sleave for this plot. *laughs diabolically*  
Just to let you know, I may be extending time taken on this story so I can get some more readers... but I may be willing to speed up the process if you guys could help???? Spread the word if you like the story, and I'll be eternally grateful! :)**

**-TG**


	18. Reverie

**Hello everyone!**

**SO sorry for the month long wait on this one. I know I've been seriously slacking as far as updating quickly, I've been uber busy with school, and I was in this French Competition thing that I had to practice for 3 days out of the week after school, playing piano (and learning a song for the before mentioned competition), practices for sports, and everything else that has kept me busy! It has all been hectic. Luckily, I'm now on Spring Break and will be bringing my laptop with me to California so I can write and update at least once more before the end of this week.**

**Another very important reason this took a while was because this chapter is a HUGE turning point (and I mean huge!), and i had to get the plot line straightened out with my Co-author before I could even begin to think about beginning to write this. After a lot of emails and conversatoins, it's all straightened out and this story is coming closer and closer and closer to the end. :'( Only a few chapters left (which will probably turn into a lot more than I anticipate. I can never fit everything I want into a single chapter). I will try to update as fast as I possibly can write (and trust me, it kills me to have to wait for a chapter to be edited once I finish it. I want to see what you think the moment I type the last word on that page!)**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. (Scratch that. I had writer's block at the beginning and did not enjoy that. So I hope you enjoy it MORE than I enjoyed writing it.) **

**:)**

**-TG**

**P.S. Just a shout out to my friend Akiko, if you're reading this! Hope you enjoy this chapter too, because I know you've been bugging me at school to get it finished! Tell me what you think in an anonymous review (Unless you made a screen name already? I don't know, you never told me if you did.) Just make sure you include your name, so I know it's you. :)**

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Chapter 17- Reverie

I didn't know what a 'Volturi' was, but I could hear the fear in Jasper's voice as he mentioned it's name. Jasper, my always fearless Superman, was afraid for once. Just that fact alone made me afraid for him. Anything that could scare a vampire had to be absolutely terrifying. Did I really want to know what it was? I did, but I didn't want to ask the question. It didn't seem like I had control over my own body anymore. The question came out despite my hesitation, "Wh-what is the.. volturi?"

Jasper wasn't looking at me. He was looking _through_ me, as if I'd dissolved into the air before his very eyes. Maybe he was preparing himself for when I actually would disappear… into nothing but a pile of ashes. Would I be able to feel myself being burned? My heart wasn't beating, so wasn't I technically dead already? Would I feel every little miniscule piece of my body being charred? I wouldn't be able to hear or see anymore, but would I feel it? All the questions I had rattled in my head like marbles. It felt like I should hear the throbbing of my heart rate beating too fast from the adrenaline, but- of course- my body was dead and silent.

Jasper's silence was deafening. He had to speak sometime. He still wasn't looking at me, and that fact alone made me want to scream in mad frustration. Finally, I couldn't take the silence anymore. "Jasper! The volturi- what is it?!" He seemed to snap back into reality, but his eyes still looked glassy, as if they were seeing something that wasn't actually there. Some part of my mind briefly wondered if that's what I look like when I have visions, but that part wasn't dominant enough to shine any light on that shadow of grief that had begun to take over my mind.

"The Volturi are a very old, very powerful family of vampires. They reside in Volterra, Italy, but when there's ever any… _trouble_ in the world of vampires, then they send their guard to 'fix' the problem. If a vampire is very gifted, they will often ask them to join their guard. They create and enforce the rules we must follow to exist successfully in the real world."

"What rules?" I asked. I couldn't help but feel reassured at the thought of these Volturi people, like they were coming to protect me, not kill me. Maybe they would stop and listen; maybe they would realize that Jasper and I have done nothing wrong… but I knew that that would never happen. In their eyes, we were probably just the problem.

"The rules are pretty simple: Don't reveal our kind to a human unless we plan on finishing them, and don't cause any disturbances." His mouth pressed into a hard line on the last word, and he looked down to the ground.

Hesitantly I continued, "And by 'disturbances' you mean-"

He nodded his head and cut me off, "A battle between 40 vampires, mostly being out-of-control newborns, at dawn, only miles away from the fourth largest city in the United States of America? Yeah, that would be considered a disturbance. I believe they've been on to our trail for years, but they've been waiting for us to do something truly disruptive to get off their thrones and start doing their job. Plus, you can bet that they may be after special powers."

"Powers?" I asked.

"Yes, like yours and mine. I don't know what you saw, but if they realize what your power is and maybe even what mine is, they may ask us to join them. Like I said, the Volturi only takes very gifted vampires." As he finished speaking, he looked down in thought. I was thinking as well; About everything we weren't going to do, everything we wouldn't be able to see, and what would be waiting for us on the other side. What happens to you if you die when you're already dead? It was extremely hard to label myself or Jasper as dead when I knew that we could feel and breathe. Our hearts may not beat, yet I still love him and he loves me all the same. Does that make us alive enough to have an after life waiting for us? Even if Hell was in store for us, it would be okay as long as Jasper were with me. Anywhere was Hell if Jasper wasn't with me.

Finally, I spoke in frantic hushed tones, "So, what are we going to do? We have to run, right? I mean- if we stay here you'll fight. If you fight, you'll die-" My frantic words came to a close as I let those words sink in.. I couldn't wrap my thoughts around the possibility of a world where Jasper didn't exist in my life. I voiced my thoughts unintentionally, as if I didn't have control over what I said. "And if you die... I will- I just- I- can't live without you." I looked up to meet Jasper's grim expression with my own. He didn't rebuke my words, because he felt the same way. I couldn't live without him, and he couldn't live without me.

That's how it was as a vampire. When you live forever, you have to have something to live for. Before now, Jasper's meaning for life was war, violence, and hatred. He was constantly surrounded by these vicious battles and training, but then we found each other, and everything changed. I don't think Jasper could honestly go back to that life after seeing how much I could love him. At least, that's what I hoped. I would never want anything to happen to Jasper, even if I was gone but... would I honestly want him to live that way again as an outlet? I prayed that I wouldn't have to find out.

I spoke to Jasper with the last bit of hope I had left in me, "So we can't stay here, right?" The silence hung between us as if it was suspended by our gaze. Jasper didn't respond, instead he just looked me in the eyes as if it were the last time. It made me nervous to see that he didn't agree with the idea of running or disagree with the fact that we may die. With a grim aura, I realized he wasn't going to console my dreadful thoughts, when what I thought was probably true.

"I sincerely wish we could leave..." Jasper trailed off, breaking the silence and our gaze as he averted eye contact. "But we'd only be killing ourselves and saving the others by doing so." I didn't expect that. I looked up at him curiously, waiting for my unspoken question to be answered. He must have felt my confusion because he didn't hesitate or wait for me to speak before he spoke again, "If we run, Maria will find us. If Maria can't find us at first, then she'll send other people to find us. As I've said before, we will never stop running- at least, not until they find us and kill us. The people who stayed at camp would get killed by the Volturi, and the others who would follow us, which would probably include Maria, would be saved from the Volturi by our escape attempt. If we stay here, we die, but at least we bring them down with us." There was some sense to that statement, but I couldn't comprehend it. Would I rather die to keep the army from living, or postpone death to leave them to live and hurt people another day?

"Maybe she won't search for us- and by us, I mean you, considering she doesn't know I'm alive yet." I said. I added the "yet" on. Maria would- no doubt- discover my presence as soon as she started following Jasper. "Maybe she'll be distracted with the Volturi too much to care about us." _Wishful thinking_, part of me thought. It almost seemed like I hadn't thought it, but it really had been true. I was wishing, hoping, praying for a miracle.

Jasper shook his head, with a look that confirmed my thoughts. "We may know about the Volturi coming, but Maria doesn't. She won't be concerned with fleeing from the Volturi, and we sure can't tell her about your vision without revealing your existence and putting your life in danger." Despite the situation, I snickered.

"I can take her." I said with crossed arms, like a defiant toddler. Jasper wasn't amused. His mouth set into a hard line, like it did every time my possible death was mentioned. As I thought of that, it surprised me how many times my possible death had been mentioned in the past month. You would think that seeing the future would help prevent that. On the contrary- here I was: Closer to imminent death that I'd ever been before, and the only perk from my visions was that I knew my death was coming. I may not like surprises, but I was thinking that maybe ignorance_ is_ bliss.

"Let's not take the chance." He said seriously. I frowned, waiting for him to say something that could make the feeling of dread ebb from the atmosphere. He didn't say anything. Obviously feeling my disappointment, Jasper wrapped his arms around me. His eyes were closed, and I could feel the anguish he was feeling as he spoke, "I"m so sorry... this is all my fault." It pained me to hear him so lifeless. Listening to him was like a preview of what death would be like.

"This isn't your fault." I mumbled into his chest. He laughed a hollow, dark laugh.

"Oh, but it is. I shouldn't be alive. Our kind aren't supposed to exist, remember? If I was never created- if I had just died like a normal human- I would never have been put in Maria's coven. We would never have gone hunting that day. We would never have discovered you. And, even if you had still found the other vampires, I would never have- and I use this term loosely- _saved_ you from those men or from Nettie. You would have... died, it's true, but at least you would have gone back to Heaven, where you belong, where you could be happy. Where any Angel belongs..." My body shook with invisible tears. Jasper lifted my chin up so he could see me. He analyzed my anguished face and frowned. "I'm so sorry, my Alice."

I shook my head, denying his apology. "No. Where you are is where I am happy." I wrapped my tiny arms as far around his waste as possible. "In your arms, is where I belong." I rested my head against his chest, closing my eyes. "Heaven has no appeal to me if you're not there with me. You are the missing part of me, Jasper. And- until I met you-I had barely known I was missing something. I thought it was natural to feel empty, when I had never felt whole. But now that I do feel whole for the first time? I'd rather die here with you a million times over than to feel empty again." Jasper didn't speak. He held me there against himself silently, probably thinking; about what, I didn't know. I spoke again, "Wherever you end up, I'm coming with you."

Jasper nodded silently, not protesting anymore. Whatever he did put our lives in danger, he just had to decide which evil he would choose. Finally, he answered my question. "We're not going to be going anywhere, love. We're staying here... till the very end. I nodded into his chest. Jasper laced his fingers with mine, and I held up our intertwined hands to my face to look at them. I looked at his pale hand and dismally imagined what it would feel like, dying. I turned his hand around in mine, and dreamily imagined the flames around us like distant memories of the future.

I closed my eyes, and- when I opened them- I was in a vision. It was the same vision as before, except this time I was aware that it was the future and not the present. But- at the moment- I couldn't really distinguish between the two.

It was the same scene;

_There were plumes of putrid, purple flames and the streaks of gray and black swooping around the field in and organized formation. I sincerely wished that I wouldn't have to see our demise again. It was like my power had turned against me- taunting me with my abysmal future. I still hadn't seen myself being burned again, but I knew somewhere in this vision I would make an appearance, but by then I probably wouldn't be recognizable by human or vampire except for the last trace of my scent in my ashes. I'd never had the exact vision twice unintentionally. In my new existence, I found that it was now easier to access that part of my conscious brain and replay visions at my own will, but I hadn't willed this vision to return. I didn't want this vision to return, because it wasn't worth seeing again. _

_The vision focused in on the bodies hidden beneath the last embers, and I sincerely wished I could close my eyes in a vision, but I was forced to watch. Again, it seemed like my power was taunting me with my own death, saying, "You're going to die. So what are you going to do about it?" I could practically hear an omniscient voice saying those words in my head, "What are you going to do about it?" _Nothing. There is nothing I _can_ do about it._ I thought to the vision. _

_The vision shook as if it was frustrated and zoomed in across the field, through pillars of smoke and ash and the last remaining fighting bodies. Finally, the vision zoomed in and focused on an almost unnoticeable pair of eyes. One pair of eyes was red, and the other was a brighter amber-red mix. They were focused on the scene before them. I could see faintly through the leaves of a lower bush that the two figures each had one of their hands loosely intertwined. I already knew who they had been simply by the eyes, but something about Jasper's and my hands so calmly held together gave me hope. We were together and safe in this vision. This vision was like everything I couldn't have and wanted. I realized suddenly that this vision wasn't a duplicate of the other vision... it was a revelation. _

I snapped out of my vision, but Jasper hadn't moved since I'd blanked. He must not have realized I had had a vision, because he still had his face buried in my hair like before. I lightly pushed away from his arms until I held his forearms in my hands at arms length. He looked confused and depressed.. I smiled, which only bewildered him more.

"Jasper, you said we had to stay here right?" I asked, knowing well that he had said so. I didn't just forget what he had said mere minutes ago. He nodded in response, and didn't look at me in the face. I pulled his face toward me gently, wanting his attention for a moment. "Why do we have to fight? What if we stay here and not fight?" I smiled.

He looked at me like I was missing something very obvious, which was exactly what I wanted him to think. In fact, I knew very well what I was doing.

"I've told you... It's not that simple. We have two options: I can stay and fight, or I can run away." He seemed a bit frustrated with me. I would be too if I was talking to a person who is supposed to have photographic memory that kept forgetting things.

"Ok. So what if we run away?" I continued, urging him to say it.

"That's not really an option... If we were to run away, we would eventually get chased until we were killed. Maria would come after us." He seemed to get more frustrated with the situation as he repeated himself, realizing once again the predicament we were in.

But he had said what I needed. And Jasper had forgotten one thing: The third option.

"What if Maria wasn't around to follow us?" I asked, feigning ignorance.. But I wasn't ignorant- I knew this plan would work. At least- it had to work. Jasper's life and- in turn- my life depended on this plan working. I grinned almost evilly as I saw the puzzled look Jasper gave me as though he could see the gears turning in my head, stretching back into motion as my plan formulated in my mind

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**Just to let you know, I got SO emotional when writing Jasper's apology. It was sad for me to write about all that pain there. I hope this came out the way it was supposed to and I hope Jasper's not sounding too edward-ish in a masochistic kind of way. Even so, that may be because in this Alternate Universe, Jasper met Alice as a human, so there's going to be a lot of remorse that the woman he loves can't live a normal life anymore. That may be why he seems more like Edward. **

**Tell me what you thought of the chapter! Hope you liked it enough to review with your thoughts. I can't wait to hear what you have got to say about my writing. **

**Love you guys! Keep reading and (if you like to write) keep writing too! If there is something particular that you are writing and would like me to read, leave the name of your story in your review and I'll check it out if I can. :) I love reading everyone's different styles of writing.**

**-TG**


	19. Black and White

**Two months. I know I'm a failure. Ah, sorry, I've had a little thing called chronic writer's block, plus I've been editing an original piece of work that I've been writing for a few years. I took a break from this for a little while to do that, and now I'm taking a break from that to do this. :)**

**I know, I have no excuses, but I only hope the chapter makes up for my lack of posts. My co-writer has been unable to fully keep track of the plot that I have created, so I'm going to have to finish this out solo. She's still going to edit for me, however. We don't have that much left! Hang in there, keep reading.**

**RxR! Luv ya guys!**

**-TG**

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Chapter 18: Black And White

Alice POV

Jasper actually laughed at that. His mood seemed to have lightened considerably, which may or not have been a result of my suddenly chipper attitude permeating the atmosphere. I was hopeful now, and I practically shook with anticipation. I had made a plan, and it would work. This plan _was_ going to work, I kept repeating to myself. I would make it work, some how.

Jasper, as if realizing it wasn't a joke, spoke, "It sounds like a great idea, Alice, but getting rid of Maria is easier said than done. I mean, I see where you are coming from: the first step to taking down an army is to take down it's leader, right? Lose all form of organization by taking down the organizer?"

He was starting to sound like a Texan soldier again, and I imagined him in uniform, discussing battle tactics that could save his country instead of discussing ways to ultimately tear apart a seemingly small, yet horribly formidable, territorial vampire army that could easily take down an entire section of the United States Army. I didn't focus on that grim truth, though. I was focusing on the image of Jasper in uniform still... And I was content with that until he started talking reality again. "As much as I like the idea of tearing Maria apart, you would have to remember that she would have 20 vampires behind her to back her up... Which would attack us the moment they realized we were a threat..." Jasper paused, waiting for the smile to come off my face or the hopeful glint in my eye to dull again.

He continued, determined to find a waver in my fierce determination. "And once they realized we are a threat to their leader, they would probably kill us. I mean, after the training I have put them through they'd be more than equipped to take down the two of us, and there's a snowball's chance in hell that they may rebel against Maria for _my_ sake, especially after all I've put them through." Jasper laughed at the thought, which made me curious to know exactly what all his "training" contained... I shivered at the thought, which made Jasper think I had finally come to my senses. But I still smiled and waited for him to stop looking at me like I was crazy.

Still, he tried to dissuade me, "And even if we did take down Maria in the process, which would grant me enormous satisfaction, we would still die... which would not be good and would eliminate the point of this whole plan."

He waited, and finally I decided to speak, "Who said that _we_ were going to kill her?" He opened his mouth as if he were about to speak, but he stopped himself, thinking about what I had said. When he didn't come to any conclusions, I continued. "Isn't that the Volturi's job? Fixing problems?" I urged him to realize my ingenious plan, but he was still not getting it.

"As great as that sounds, you're forgetting that if the Volturi kills Maria, they will kill us." He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, which it practically was. But he still had not eliminated my plans yet.

"Who said we'd fight them?" I asked.

"Well, whether we fight the volturi or not, we'd still be guilty by association... and we would still die." For once, the fact that all of Jasper's outcomes seemed to end in death was funny to me, because he still hadn't figured my plans.

"Who said we'd be associating with them?" I said matter-of-factly. Now Jasper was really confused.

"Ok, so you're saying that we won't run, but we won't fight? Yeah... don't think that's going to work out so well because... well, there is really no middle ground on this issue. We can't get what we want here."

"Says whom?" I prompted.

"Says reality." Jasper retorted. He still didn't see the humor in this potential death or death situation. I unwrapped my crossed arms and reached up to put my hands on either side of his beautiful face. I stroked his cheek bone with my thumb as I admired his scarred, but magnificent skin.

I spoke in a whisper, like I was talking to myself. "Less than a month ago, I was a normal human teenager. Now, I'm a vampire who is in love with the world's strongest, bravest, most caring man to ever walk this earth. I can see the future, and you can manipulate emotions! Jasper, look around you; Reality has nothing to do with the world we live in." Before he could speak, I reached up and kissed him quickly, cutting off anything he was about to say. "And if it does? Well, if reality plays any part of our world then the reality you know must be far more expansive than you give it credit for."

Jasper looked deep into my eyes, as if trying to piece the little fragments together in this puzzle I was creating. Finally, he gave up trying to figure out what I was saying and just decided to ask me. "Alice, what are you trying to say?" He sounded defeated, as if I had raised his hopes, but he already knew he would be let down. He should know better than to think that I would let him down.

"What I'm saying is that maybe this isn't just a black or white situation, or a black and black in your case. Maybe this isn't even a gray situation! Maybe! This situation is so out of the box that you would have to invent a new color for it, maybe even the eighth color of the rainbow that only we, as vampires, can see. What I'm saying is this situation does not have to end with our death." I raised one eye-brow in a questioning look and continued, "You're saying we either die cowards or we die unclaimed heroes, right? Let's not die. Let's fight and live to tell about it."

Still, my cryptic answer did not satisfy Jasper, but this time he decided to play along with me. "Ok, so we fight and don't die? Sounds like a plan to me. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. Oh, that's right; because the Volturi is practically invincible. But we can forget about that little detail- what's your idea, Alice?" He crossed his arms defiantly, and it only fueled my fire more to see him with an attitude. I smirked.

"Well, Jasper, have you ever thought of sticking around to _make sure _that Maria can't chase us?" Jasper just blinked in confusion, but didn't say anything. I continued. "I'm asking you to go back to the army again. Go back and act like the best, most enthusiastic soldier Maria's ever had. Say you have a genius plan and give her details. Think of something that will require you to leave the group just before the battle starts. Instead of actually doing it, come meet me. I don't know if we can avoid the Volturi, but we can try. Then, we stay- watch the battle to make sure no one is left to find us. Carefully avoiding leaving any trace for the Volturi to find, we leave! We watch Maria's army be destroyed, even if I don't like the idea of watching all that killing, and we walk away unscathed!" I finished, and still Jasper didn't say a word. At least now he seemed to pondering the possibilities.

Finally, after many seconds of just standing there, he answered, "That's crazy." My heart dropped with his outright refusal.

I urged for more feedback. ".... Just crazy enough to work?" Still Jasper stood there, leaving me in suspense.

"It's more than crazy enough to work: it's so crazy that we might even get out without a scratch. And it's so simple that I'm surprised I didn't think of it..." Jasper hung his head as if he were ashamed of himself. I went to him, reaching my hands up to put them on his shoulders.

"That's because you're all or nothing; you don't see the in-between stuff." He wrapped one arm around my waste, picking me up until I was at eye level with him.

"I guess that's why I have you then?" He smiled, kissing me before setting me down to the ground again. If my balance wasn't perfect, I might have been dizzy from the kiss. I smiled up at him, loving the way he accepted my ideas when, just a few seconds before, he denied that there had been any other possibility than death. I nodded in response to his rhetorical question. Though he knew my answer, I felt at that time that it was necessary to assure him of my response.

"You know you always will." I said, though the look on his face troubled me. He didn't look reassured at all. He appeared pensive. "Don't you?" I asked, worried for a moment.

"I do. I was just thinking that..." He trailed off with a sheepish look, obviously not willing to finish the sentence. My mouth pulled down as I saw that ashamed look.

"You can tell me anything." I pushed, afraid of what Jasper could be thinking. If I let him build up those emotions inside without letting them out, who knows what he could convince himself of? Could he even consider for a moment that I might not want to be with him? That would be absolutely crazy.

"I know I can." He paused. "It's just... you deserve someone stronger than me. You didn't want to kill a human, and you've succeeded thus far. You found a way out, but now I'm not sure if I can do it. I've been convinced for the past decade and a half that there was absolutely no way out of this fate. As much as I love you, I know it will never be enough if everything I do is against your morals."

I tried to interrupt him, "Jazz-"

"That's just it, though." He took my hands in his. "I don't know if I could ever leave you. It's not often that vampires' minds change, but you've changed mine. You've changed my whole world so drastically that there's no going back from this. I don't know how I'd be able to cope without you." I frowned at all this talk of leaving me. If I had anything to do with it, Jasper wasn't going anywhere. He had made an impact on me as well—one that couldn't be so easily dissuaded.

I shushed Jasper before he could say more. "This is the last time I will tell you this, Jasper Whitlock. _I. Am. Not. Going. Anywhere._ It's going to take more than that to get rid of me now. I'm hooked, babe." He laughed and the mood around us lightened as he did.

An idea dawned on me at that moment. "And I don't expect to change your diet just yet. The thing is, I'm not sure what repercussions come with animal blood. I know I couldn't function without sustenance for those weeks, but I think I'm OK now. I won't know for a while. Eventually my eyes will change more drastically, as I have seen already in my visions, but I don't know what else could happen. I need you to stay as strong as possible just in case you might need it. All I ask is that you try a new lifestyle after this is all over." After a moment of deliberating, he nodded curtly. Something in his eyes made me think he still doubted that there would be an "after this" for us to enjoy. I didn't blame him for doubting, because I was doubtful too. All I could do was hope we had a future beyond the next ten days.

We started walking back the way we had come. I knew that I would eventually have to part ways with him before my presence could be sensed near the meadow. Without the distraction of a battle in the middle of the field, I doubt I would be able to sneak past the highly sensitive vampires if I was within a half-mile radius of them. Jasper stopped just before the limit of my proximity, keeping our entwined hands in between us as he faced me.

"So I'll go grovel at Maria's feet, I guess." He said, disdainfully. He was probably imagining exactly what he could do to make her trust him again. As he briefly debated the best course of action, a few glimpses of the future danced before my vision. I didn't want to see what Maria could do to get compensation from Jasper, so I tried to ignore the premonitions. "It might take me some time to get her to trust me again, and I doubt she'll let me go on 'walks' anymore by myself. It might be a few days before I can see you again..." He frowned at that thought.

I knew he could feel my disappointment at this realization, but I smiled anyway. While time seemed shorter in this new existence, anytime spent away from him was too long. I knew, however, that if we succeeded in our mission we could have the rest of our existence together. That was enough to console me for now. I let the thought of forever with Jasper fill me up as I spoke, "That's alright. You need to gain the army's trust again if this is going to work. I'll be practicing hunting while you're gone. If you get a chance to see me while I'm gone, I probably won't be too far from the meadow. I'll stay within a few miles so I won't get anywhere too... _public._" I shuttered at the thought of possibly running into humans on a hunting trip. As I gulped, my throat burned without warning.

He glanced down at my expression sympathetically, rubbing his smooth hand across my cheek to momentarily distract me. It worked. I was drawn to him for the moment, and I closed my eyes to relish the feeling of his skin. I wished I could've stayed there with him. I wished I didn't have to practice not being a murderer, while he worked on killing the people who would ultimately lead to our deaths otherwise. He brought my attention back to my end of the mission, "Just stay a few miles around the meadow and you should be fine. We're a good distance from the city, and there are no camping areas in proximity. We picked this spot partially for its seclusion." I didn't want to think about the other selling point of their current property: the menu.

I nodded at his advice, also trying to rid my head of the previous thought without seeming too obvious. I looked into his eyes, knowing it was time to say goodbye for now. Sensing the time as well, Jasper took my face in between his hands, taking his time bending down to kiss me. We started slow, but I deepened it as I realized I might not see him for over a week. Just the uncertainty of our next meeting had me frantic to savor every moment I had with him. After what seemed like both an eternity and a millisecond, we separated. I stepped back slowly, knowing we had to say goodbye some time. I had to go against all instinct to leave him there, standing as he watched me back away slowly.

"I'll see you soon," He whispered, watching me as my backwards steps became more frequent.

"Not soon enough," I answered back. He nodded in confirmation. Finally, when we could barely see each other through expanse of thick tree trunks between us, I turned. Reluctantly and too slow for a vampire, I began my trek back to the meadow. My footsteps felt heavy, yet weightless at the same time. I wondered briefly if I _would_ see Jasper again. If Maria didn't trust him, she could order him killed. If she kept him too busy to succeed in our plans, Jasper might not get to me before the battle. Now that I had thought of all the possibilities, I couldn't get them out of my head. Thought I tried to push them back in the corner of my mind, where they would only be subconsciously considered, they wouldn't go away. How I wished all those dismal thoughts would disappear.


	20. Easily Distracted

**Hello everyone!**

**Sorry it's been a while, but I had finals and I went to Hawaii for two weeks, so I've been a bit preoccupied. So, the end is drawing near (and, I know I've said this before, but I'm serious now). My one-year anniversary for posting this story is approaching and my goal is to have it finished by then. Technically, I published it on July 18th, 2008, but getting it in by that date might be tricky for me, because that's the day I'll be getting by from my trip to Europe. I'm going to try and post as many chapters as earthly possible before I leave on July 8th, but if I fail to do so, I promise to have it done by the end of July. I think that still counts as a year, huh? And, trust me, it won't be long after then that I post the beginning of the sequel! *squeal* Yay, I've been waiting SO long to write this sequel, that the ideas are just pouring out. Ok... I think I'm going to go write the rest of this story, so I can get going with the sequel! **

**Enjoy the chapter!**

**Keep Reading!**

**RxR**

**-TG**

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Chapter 19- Easily Distracted

Alice POV

As I entered the line of trees surrounding the meadow, I didn't marvel at its beauty the way I normally did. I didn't appreciate the trickle of the stream flowing through it, the sun shining through the thin clouds, or the bluebonnets swaying gently in the breeze. To be honest, I wasn't even looking at the ground in front of me as I walked into the secluded area. I focused on the future possibilities as I imagined Jasper walking back to the training camp. Different scenarios passed through my field of sight, and I imagined that Jasper was deciding exactly how he would find his way back into Maria's good graces. Some of his methods seemed a little drastic, but he knew better than I did what would make Maria happy. I could hardly imagine what would make an evil, sadistic vampire who has a thing for _my _Jasper happy. I shuddered at the thought of what Maria could come up with.

While some possibilities were more… unsettling than others, I was moderately pleased to find that more outcomes resulted positively than negatively. I found that Maria enjoyed Jasper's abilities and company too much to pass up a chance to make him grovel while still getting to keep him. At least, that's what I gathered from the vindictive smiles and mischievous looks that Jasper would be graced with in the near future. I frowned and imagined scenarios that would make _me_ happy regarding Maria. It took a while before I was able to calm myself down again after that. It seemed that, in this new life, my emotions seemed to just take off uncontrollably before I could comprehend the effect of the emotion itself. Even with my rapid comprehensive abilities, there was no stopping a strong emotion from revealing itself. I didn't enjoy this particular side of my new life, especially when Maria was always so sickeningly calm. At least _I_ would have Jasper to keep me calm from here on.

That thought-- the one about Jasper's and my future-- kept me occupied for a long while after that. Now that there was some hope, some possibility, that we could make it through this war and still come out together and happy was enough to keep me contentedly distracted from the more dismal current predicament of Maria and her various ways of compensation. I found that I was very easily distracted by one thought or another, while also being able to think about everything at once. My mind seemed to be able to consider a thousand things at once, while only really focusing on one thing at a time. It was mind boggling to me that I could get so easily side-tracked, and I found myself wondering if I was this easily distracted in my human life. But once I began to think of my human life, that was _all_ I could think about. Every new thought that came into my mind seemed to require my full attention, sending all other information to the back-burner in my mind. Now that I truly thought about it, I hadn't really tried to remember my past in a while. With the battle being ten days away, I certainly had plenty of free time on my hands to do nothing but think. I thought maybe, just maybe, I could remember that mysterious part of my life if I thought about long and thoroughly.

I didn't know exactly how to begin this task, so I took a deep breath. I blew the air back out frustratingly when I didn't feel any satisfaction in the movement. I didn't _need_ to breathe, so deep-breathing didn't seem to help me clear my head or help me achieve difficult tasks. I sat down in the soft grass, but this also seemed like a ridiculous motion because I was just as comfortable standing up. I could stand for the next ten days until Jasper and I are ready for our task, and I was one hundred percent sure I'd be just as comfortable as I was sitting down. Nevertheless, I remained sitting in that position. Sitting and deep-breathing were human comforts, this I subconsciously knew, and I figured that _acting_ human might take me a step closer to being able to remember what humanity had been like for me. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that I would be able to do this. I mean, I seemed to know things that I had learned in my past life. I knew what everything was; most, if not all, things that I must have known in my human life. I just couldn't remember what school I had learned the information in, if I had enjoyed learning this information, or if I had dropped out, gotten a G.E.D., and was emancipated from my parents and/or guardians. I sighed in frustration at my imagination. Well, I was going to remember. I _had _to remember.

I thought about the first thing that came to mind; a house. The house I imagined was a nice, two-story in the suburbs that wasn't too gaudy, but just enough to indicate that it belonged to a middle-class family. That seemed fitting, I guess. But still, the house didn't set off anything inside me that would lead me to believe that this was where I had lived. I thought harder, imagining myself at a dinner table in this nice house, next to a woman who looked just like me and a handsome man that had just gotten home from work. But my imagination wasn't very original. The man and woman had no faces really. I couldn't see these people. I couldn't see anyone really except for a girl sitting next to the faceless man. She was smiling and eating, but not talking really. She was the only thing about this picture that I could remember clearly, that didn't seem like a figment of my imagination. Bella was the only thing about my past that remained unchanged by my transformation. After a moment of reminiscing over her face and smile, and I erased the image from my mind. This cookie-cutter image wasn't my past. Even if it was, I wouldn't know. I couldn't figure out why I couldn't remember. Did I have parents? Did I have friends?

_Ok,_ I thought. _I'll go from the last thing I remember, and trace it backwards._ I thought back from the moment I stepped into this meadow until I reached my last human memory. _Torturous burning. That was all I could think of. _I winced internally at the memory of my transformation. I held on to the vision though, hoping it would lead me somewhere. _A cool hand on my face that couldn't extinguish the flames that seemed to be charring me from t he inside. The sensation of being carried. Hearing Jasper as he collided Nettie, taking the pressure of my neck as Nettie was heaved off my crushed body. The blood-thirsty eyes of Nettie as she lunged for me. Maria's attempt to frighten me. Jasper's protectiveness, which I didn't understand then. Jasper, holding me in his arms as he realized he didn't want to kill me. Seeing Jasper killing those men, but not caring because he saved me and I didn't mind what he was if I could just see him. Rushing to an alleyway... anxiety pulsing through me... _

I pushed on through the memory, but details were slowly getting blurrier, as if I was being pushed into muddy water and forced to look at the image beyond the surface. It was so hard to see now. _Leaving something behind as I ran forward toward my fate... Bella had to stay home because... because...I didn't want her to be hurt...I knew it would be dangerous... but I had to go... I—_blank_._

That was it. That was absolutely everything I could remember. After that last image I could only see little flashes of memory of Bella doing something random like eating or brushing her hair or sleeping, while everything and everyone around her were indistinguishable. I couldn't see her surroundings, or hear what was going on around her. All I knew was that I could remember Bella vividly.

I put my face in my hands and growled in frustration. _Why_ _couldn't I remember? _I could see the future with ease, but I couldn't even see my past. What kind of psychic was I? That thought filled my attention for a moment, and - slowly for my normal thought process - I had an epiphany. I couldn't see my past, except for Bella. But I _could_ see the future clearer than ever... at least, I thought so. Except for the vision of Nettie attacking me, I didn't remember any visions that didn't include Bella. Despite this, I was fairly sure that if I thought about Bella, I could see her future... no, I was _positive _that I could. Now that I was semi-adequately fed, my visions weren't a problem. The only predicament I had now was, did I really want to see Bella's future? Could I handle seeing her happily living life without me, if she was obviously so important to me in my human life? Or, even worse, what if she was in trouble, and I wasn't there to help her? There wasn't anything I could do to save her if something were to happen to her. What if I really shouldn't see what life would be like for her?

The thought was tempting, though. If I were to look into Bella's future, it could hold answers that I couldn't find about my past. I was scared that the life I had left behind for my little sister was a horrible one that _I_ could have prevented by staying with her and protecting her. Jasper made me happy, and I was perfectly fine with the life I had to live to be with him. But what was life like for Bella without me? And, while I wanted her to be happy, what if our relationship hadn't been what I thought? What if I had made her life miserable and she was better off without me? I couldn't imagine myself making someone like that miserable, but I didn't know what I had been like as a human. I had absolutely no inclination as to what future she would have without me, and I dreaded the thought of finding out just as much as I yearned for it.

Finally, I shut off my thought process. _Stop thinking about it so much, and just do it._ I thought to myself. _This could be crucial to finding out my past, and anything concerning Bella is out of my hands._ _If she is happy, then that's great. I'm sure Bella is-- _and suddenly, it didn't matter what I thought. Whether I really wanted to see her future or not, I was. A part of me relished the fact that I couldn't talk myself out of it, while another part watched in horror at what could possibly happen to my life when I wasn't in it anymore.

_Vision_

_A huge, three-story, gated house came to my vision. The building was a rich, red-colored brick that contrasted with the white pillars that fell from the second story balcony to ground beneath. Enclosed in the area where the pillars stood was the front door. They were double doors that held huge panes of sculpted glass within its dark oak border. It was a beautiful door to match a beautiful house, but the vision wasn't going in this way. It traveled up past the exterior, through a window on the third story. The room I was seeing now was magnificently decorated with red and gold embellishments. The huge king size bed was a deep red and was canopied with bundles of gold fabric hanging from the top of the frame. A huge plasma screen TV took up most of the western wall. _

_This room was absolutely magnificent, and I wasn't sure if it was mine. What I did know was that something was off about this image. The room, so magnificent that it would be a shame _not _to sleep here, was uninhabited. The room was too neat, showing no signs of an occupant. It could have been a guest room, sure, but some part of me said that this was not the case. There were signs, however, that someone used to live here. While the shelves and surfaces were completely empty, one large corner of the room held stacks and stacks of boxes. Little boxes and big boxes piled on top of one another until it appeared that a small child might have playfully built a fort out of these seemingly empty boxes. But they weren't empty. I could tell by the second layer of boxes, which was in my sight. These boxes had a few open tops, revealing more red and gold decorations, picture frames, and office supplies that had been morphed to appeal to a teenage girl. Yes, someone had lived here once, and I was fairly certain that it had been me._

_After looking and calculating each detail of the room, something finally happened. The sound of the door jiggling as someone attempted to unlock it shattered the silence in the abandoned room. For a moment that I was lost in the observations, I was worried about this intruder to my vision. I was genuinely scared for a millisecond that someone would see me in here, and that I wasn't supposed to be in here. I realized quickly that no one could actually see me, but I also realized as the approaching figure entered that maybe no one _was _supposed to be here. Looking at the hand of the person who had arrived, I realized that they did not hold a key to this room but a bobby pin that had been used to pick the lock. If this person had to sneak into this room, maybe they weren't supposed to be here. For a second, I was mildly angry. If this was my room, which I was fairly certain it was, then what was someone doing sneaking into it? But as I took in the innocent face that belonged to the person, my anger ebbed, followed by a sadness that was so sudden it caught be off guard._

_Bella was wearing pajamas and holding a clean, white pillow that did not follow the color scheme of the room. I vaguely remembered seeing those pajamas on her at many other occasions. _Those were her favorites, _I thought as the memory came back to me. I watched as Bella approached the formidable stack of boxes, which loomed a good five feet over her head. She didn't look like she was about to go about finding some object, but more like she already knew where it was. She reached gingerly into an open box on the middle row and pulled a small, silver picture frame from its interior. She smiled ruefully at the image as if it was bitter sweet to gaze at. Hugging the pillow to one side and the frame to the other, she climbed into the huge bed only making it look more enormous in comparison to her tiny frame. She crawled until she was at the very middle of the bed and put her pillow down where her head would lay. She fell down into the pillow, still clutching the frame to her side as her eyes fluttered to a close. Just a minute later, the talking started. _Oh yeah, _I remembered. _She talks in her sleep. _I listened intently for a moment as her mumblings became more intelligible. _

"_Not… Alice. Don't go…" She mumbled, my dead heart lurching at her words. She was dreaming about me. I was ninety-nine point nine percent sure that this was my room now. Bella was dreaming about me in it. _

"_Don't leave me…please?" If I had been actually there, and not just there in my vision, I imagine I would have felt the tight feeling in my chest and throat that meant I was crying without actually producing tears. This vision was heartbreaking. I was torn between my gratitude for Bella, who still obviously missed me and loved me, and my wish that she wasn't mourning over me in her subconscious. _

_Bella suddenly woke up and sat straight up. For a moment, she looked innocent and younger than she actually was. She looked around as if she didn't exactly know where she was. She peered around the bed next to her as if expecting someone else to be there. Finally she wrapped her hands around the metal frame and peered into the picture, which was now at an angle I could see. It was a picture of Bella and I, smiling and laughing as if we didn't know someone had been taking our picture at the time. Looking at the picture, Bella's smile was contradicted by the tear rolling slowly down her cheek. She lay back down on the pillow, still not bothering to actual disturb the smooth sheets by snuggling under them. This time, a few minutes passed without her sleep-talking returning. _

The vision faded away and was replaced by the view of the trees.

I sighed, unable to comprehend a way to fix this problem. I had given up that life in that big house that I could now see clearly in my head for Jasper. I had done that willingly (well, sort of willingly). I didn't regret leaving that life for the man I love. But I loved Bella too, and there was nothing I could do to ease her loss now that I couldn't even go near her without - most likely - killing her. My stomach felt like it was in knots as I thought of that. I was a monster who couldn't even go near my own sister because I might kill her. Not only that, but I'd probably make her go into shock at the sight of me. I wasn't the girl in that picture anymore. She might not even recognize me anymore. I could really never see her again, even if I sincerely wished I could.

I just wished there was some possible way for me to comfort her. I… had another thought. Another plot twisted in my mind until I was smiling at the thought of it. There was no way to help my sister… or was there a way? What if I—after that my mind was occupied with my genius plan that would take place as soon as all this business with the army was over. Once Jasper and I were safely away from this drama, I would fix what I had done to my sister. I had to do that much for her.

For the first time that day, I cleared my mind of all thoughts. Looking around to really take in my surroundings, I realized nightfall had already come and the day had gone by during my thought processes. I blinked in shock. I had been thinking for a very long time without so much as feeling a need to do something other than that. Now that I was more alert to my self and my surroundings, I realized that the burning was coming back. For a moment I was frightened at what this could mean, but then I realized that I needed to hunt. While I had just recently hunted, I figured that as a newborn this was probably normal. I released myself to my instincts, listening around for the sound of hooves or paws thumping on the ground as an animal traveled. I listened far past the rushing of the stream and the rustle of the wind through the leaves until I heard something; the sound of heavy paws touching lightly to the ground as an animal ran. I figured that the sound had to be a cougar, and- thinking of the different type of prey- I was intrigued. I had only been stalking deer up to this point, and those don't really do much fighting back. A carnivore with teeth and nails that could try futilely to fight back was a tempting form of recreation. I smiled at the thought of another distraction.

As I began running, I realized that- between my overwhelming amount of thought, my visions, and getting the hang of hunting animals- these next ten days might go by quickly. I both dreaded and anticipated the end of this seclusion. While I longed to finally do something to help Jasper and I escape, I feared our fate if things were to go wrong. But I was thinking too hard again. I was approaching the sound of the large animal quickly, and soon enough I was distracted again.

* * *

**So, I know it was a bitter boring-filler-esque, but i promise that will be the only chapter from this point on in which Alice is bored because the best thing she can do for her plot against the army is lie low. But next chapter will be Jasper... and you know what that means? The action is on the way.**

**Dun, Dun, Duuuun. *Epic Music***

**-TG**


	21. Fire

**Hey Everyone!**

**Just to let you know, I'm leaving tomorrow for my ten day trip to Europe. (I'm going to Italy and Greece, in case you're curious.) I won't be posting the next chapter until after I get back on the 18****th****. I do intend to write while I'm gone as I have two nine hour flights in which I have plenty of time to do so. I can't make very many promises though, because I am rather excited (this is my first trip past Mexico). When I'm excited, it makes it hard to sit down and write a chapter for an hour. My attention span shrinks in anticipation. Though, I've been spastic excited all day, and I managed to finish up this chapter for you! I don't know… maybe being in the same country as Volterra will give me the inspiration to write volturi-filled madness! Who knows?**

**Also you should know that this story is finally finishing up! We have about three or four chapters left of this story, not including the epilogue (which I'm so excited to post! I've had it written since chapter 4, and I'm in love with it!). I say that now, and I know I've said it before that we're almost through but this time we really are coming to a close! **

**This chapter is in Jasper's point of view, and my co-author Alex says that it is rather refreshing being back in his mind. I hope you think so too! Enjoy the chapter!**

**Keep Reading**

**-TG**

**P.S. Thank you so much Alex for editing this chapter in such a hurry, so I could post it before I left! You rock!**

Chapter 20- Fire

Jasper POV

When I was too close to the field to even consider turning back, I was done thinking of tactics. Well, I was pretty close to almost done thinking of tactics...Who was I kidding? In truth, I had no idea what to expect from Maria once I entered the clearing. This situation was unlike anything I'd ever had to deal with before. I'd seen Maria kill members of our army before, but they had always been newborns never more than five years old whose usefulness in our army had expired. Even back when we had accepted female newborns into the army, the situation was the same. When she had decided to rid our army of female soldiers, she hadn't killed anyone who had been with us for more than ten years. A decade to us was absolutely _nothing _as far as time was concerned.

I had been with Maria for one hundred and fifty years. All this time, I'd been loyal to her, and I had helped her with all her schemes and plots without so much as causing the least bit of trouble for her. Well, at least not _this_ much trouble. She had created me, and practically raised me the way she imagined the perfect soldier. Once I was ready to lead the army, she set me loose on Monterrey and Mexico City before we returned to Texas to claim Houston. I had helped her claim the largest territory of the fourth biggest city in the world. I was her greatest weapon—her best fighter, her strongest power. Would she be willing to kill me and sacrifice what I was worth to her? I didn't think she would ever kill me—at least, not all the way. She might tear me apart, and leave the pieces to put themselves back together. I shook my head at the thought. I'd been bitten, scratched, and torn, but I'd never been close to "death" before. I didn't know how far Maria would make me go to gain redemption, but I didn't know if I wanted to find out.

In fact, it took all my will power to keep going. As I thought about all the possible tortures she could inflict on me, I found myself questioning the true value of this assignment. What could be worth returning to that Hell hole? I sighed. _Alice,_ I thought. Alice was worth this. Alice had made a plan for us to be together without interference, and I had to do whatever I possibly could to accomplish that mission. I thought about how different this mission was from any other I'd ever accomplished. But I guess that was inevitable considering that I was a different person. Alice changed me completely, which we vampires don't often do. When we do change, however, it's often resolute and unwavering changes that influence the person's personality completely. Even if I died trying to gain our freedom, it would be the best alternative. I physically couldn't go back to that life now that my perspective was completely altered. I would _never_ go back to that life again. I kept repeating this in my head as I approached the border of the clearing. I saw the figures beyond the layer of trees, and I heard all voices cease and all rapid, almost silent, movements come to a halt as the newborns sensed my presence within their hearing range. I was still a good distance away from actually entering the field, but I knew it would take me less than thirty seconds to be there... that is, if I really felt like running to what I was about to do.

I walked instead, but still at a fast pace. I was in the last layer of trees before it thinned out to make a clearing. Everything inside the ring of trees was absolutely still. No one dared make a move as I entered. I could sense the tension and the anticipation emitting from the majority of the bodies inside. From a few, I felt anxiety as they waited to see whether or not the intruder was one they would have to attack. It took every ounce of will in my body to keep my muscles from sending me into a defensive mode. I kept my shoulders from hunching over into a crouch, and my hands from balling into fists. I had to seem as innocent as possible, which meant that I could not, under any circumstances, attack anyone.

Finally, I stepped through the space in between two enormous oaks until I was in plain sight of everyone in the field. As I took in the sight, I realized that I was probably interrupting a hunting trip. Lucy had a group of eight newborns behind her that were all moving in some way, as if anticipating something. I realized that I hadn't caused this sense in them, but the idea of a feast of innocent pedestrians in the city had. Nettie had six newborns behind near her, only Nettie joined them in their frantic movements. Maria also had six, but her newborns were absolutely still as if they were holding back in fear of Maria's wrath. I surveyed the group, as one-by-one they acknowledged my presence. My last glimpse fell on Maria's face. The calm look she always wore had vanished, and, in its place, was a look that could scare a vampire. Her eyes squinted until just a glimpse of the red irises shown beneath her lids, and her sharp, fatal teeth were exposed as her lip curled up. The way her white teeth showed almost appeared like a smile, except you practically feel the menace that the look implied. I could feel first-hand the anger that was building inside of her.

Finally, after what seemed like days of sitting in suspense, something happened. Maria scrutinized my face as she whispered the command that set everything into motion; "_Restrain him."_

Her command came out in a hiss, and immediately I was charged by the six newborns that she had had beside her. I felt a growl beginning to form deep in my chest but I held it back, not wanting to fight and make matters worse for myself. As they surrounded me, I stayed still, not fighting when each of my arms were held by two newborns. Newborns were so much stronger than me, so one alone probably could have held me in place. I supposed that either Maria wanted to be thorough, or the four newborns holding me down didn't want to risk losing control of me. The other two newborns who were left gathered behind me, not allowing me any way to escape.

Maria sauntered over, eerily slow for her. She never seemed to waste her time walking—kind of like I was doing so much more often now that I had a reason to slow down and enjoy existence. I thought about that, wanting to laugh bitterly in the presence of someone who looked like she was about to take that very existence from me. There were very few things I was afraid of; facing the Volturi alone, losing Alice, and being in Maria's presence when she looked like _that_ and I was absolutely unable to defend myself. It seemed like I was being forced to face all of my fears.

Maria's face was still frozen in the mask of ferocity that had appeared as soon as I had made my presence known. She was within ten feet of me, and I feebly made an attempt to dim the anger building up around her and spread the most docile calm I could manage to create in the current emotional climate I was in. Maria's face settled until her teeth were no longer bared. As soon as she realized how quickly she was calm again, however, she roared so loud that every body in the clearing jumped in shock. Finally, she rushed forward until she was right in front of me. As her arm coiled backwards in preparation to strike, I attempted to calm her once more. I wasn't sure if it was going to affect her in time though. Her hand catapulted forward, only slightly slowing under the weight of my power. Her steely nails raked across the hard flesh of my cheek. A horrible sound equivalent to nails on chalkboard emitted from the contact. I winced as four parallel lines were etched into the side of my face, which was already covered in various bite marks. At least nails didn't cause a scar, otherwise I would've been too angry to function. The last thing I wanted was a permanent reminder of this event, not that I wouldn't remember this distinctly already.

I pushed out the cloud of calm again, battling with the anger as I tried to influence the aura around Maria. Finally, she seemed to be calming again as her hand changed directions, moving back towards the face it had just ripped apart. Her hand traced the four marks as the wounds closed. I could feel the skin mending itself, reconnecting where it had been separated. Her hand traced down the side of my face, down to the bone in my jaw, the side of my neck, where my neck met my bare shoulder. This was the point where I began regretting never replacing the shirt I had ruined. I could've found something easily to wear, but I hadn't seen the point in replacing it until now. The feeling of Maria's hand sliding down my muscular shoulder did not feel good at all, as it might have felt if Alice's hand had replaced hers. Maria didn't seem to notice that the trail she was leaving down my side seemed to crawl sickeningly under the skin. Maybe she did notice and was doing this on purpose. I shuddered a little, forgetting momentarily that keeping Maria calm took all of my focus. A hint of that fierce anger returned, and the hand on my shoulder suddenly pushed down with all of her strength. I fell to my knees, the impact of my kneecaps leaving a significant dent in the soft ground beneath me. The four newborns that grasped my arms scrambled to stay upright as I tried to pull my arms down with me.

Maria was holding me down with her hand, and the newborns kept my arms up where they could hold them. I felt like I was being stretched in all different directions; the newborns pulling me apart horizontally as Maria's and their combined efforts pulled me apart vertically. It was a different feeling completely, and, while it wasn't exactly painful, it was definitely uncomfortable. My muscles tightened as they were stretched in different directions, the skin over them tightening until they were more prominent through the pale surface.

Maria crouched until she was at eye-level with me. I met her searing gaze with a stoic one —not angry, like I was at this humiliation; not afraid, like I felt that I should be at this particular moment in the presence of someone as terrifying as Maria; and not regretful, like I would be if Maria really did kill me and I would have to leave Alice here to fend for herself in this new world that I had so foolishly immersed her in. If everything failed, my biggest regret would be that there would be nothing I could do for Alice.

Maria finally prompted what I knew would be inevitable. "_Give me one reason... why I shouldn't... tear you apart... and burn the pieces... Jasper Whitlock." _I thought about that. I wasn't sure what to say that would make Maria spare me. If I had only one thing to say that could potentially save my existence, then it had to be something that would appeal to Maria's better nature, if she had one. It would have to be something that would make her stop and question herself completely. _Something..._ my mind scrambled for anything to say.

"Nothing to say, Jasper?" She asked, smiling in anticipation. Her body seemed to spring back in preparation.

I had approximately half a second to save my skin, so I went with the first thing that popped into my head, hoping that whatever it was was intelligent enough to make Maria stop and think.

"Fire!" I said, not exactly sure where I was going with this. _Very intelligent,_ I thought spitefully to my own thoughts. _Please give me something more intelligent than _that! I pleaded in my head. But, just as I did, a different thought dawned on me. _Fire..._ I repeated in my mind, mulling over the possibilities of the word. For some reason, I had come up with fire, and I planned on rolling with it. There had to be some reason for this random thought process, and I had nothing else to cling to as I slowly descended closer and closer to Maria's wrath.

The corner of Maria's mouth pulled up in a superior smirk, though the rest of her mouth was still pulled back in a fierce sneer. The awkward combination of the two facial expressions made her face twist unnaturally. Normally, I would see this awkward gesture as ironic or comical, but now it only made her seem more threatening. This was reflected in her equally twisted emotions—mostly fury, rage, vindictive pleasure, but also tinted with that hint of arrogance, superiority, and a different pleasure that came with seeing me fumble in her terrifying presence. I pushed another calm wave towards her, only this time, she obliged to my power, allowing her facial expression to relax as intrigue at my odd choice of words seeped into her emotions.

"Fire?" She asked doubtfully. "What? Is that supposed to be a false warning to distract my attention? Give you a chance to run?" Maria chuckled menacingly, and the newborns around me laughed nervously as well. Maria shot them a glare that both silenced them and made them grasp my arms in a tighter hold. Maria rolled her eyes at the ridiculous display and continued, "Or were you trying to procure something the least bit creative or memorable to say as your parting phrase? Please Jasper; care to explain to me your _marvelous_ choice of last words."

I smirked a little as well, for I hadn't really been paying close attention to what Maria had been saying. My mind had been distracted with the plan it was rapidly creating to save my skin, my love, and the future I was willing to diligently fight for. It only took Maria a few amused seconds before she grew impatient again, no longer able to see the humor in the situation.

"Well?" She insisted, looking like she wanted to rip off the now prominent, distracted smirk that had appeared on my face. Finally, I met Maria's gaze. There was a defiance in me that was completely new to me. This defiance, unlike the obvious, rebellious feeling before, wasn't one that I willingly showed to Maria. If I did, she would know that I was plotting against her at that very moment. It was crucial to my plot, however, that Maria did not see that my loyalty was still miles away in a clearing with bluebonnets and a trickling stream with the little pixie that I loved. No—as far as Maria would be able to tell, I had completely left behind those feelings as if they were simply a speed bump on the way to a bigger plan that would benefit Maria.

"_Fire,_ Maria..." I trailed off, letting the beginning of my offer trail off. As her patience was obviously wearing thin I realized I needed to make my offer much faster if I was going to live long enough to say anything at all. "Fire is what is going to get you all the territory you want in so little time that you may not even have to lift a finger to ensure that it is rightfully yours." As the last word of my offer sunk in, a silence fell over Maria and the rest of the clearing's inhabitants. I saw the ferocity in Maria's glare ebb, and a spark of that overwhelming greed for possession flicker in her eye. I felt the intrigue completely cover the fury in her emotions. Anything that had to do with territory and ways for her to get more of it captivated her interest.

Maria crossed her arms, taking the outstanding pressure of my shoulder and shielding her vicious claws from lunging at me again. Eying the newborns that surrounded me, she gestured to them with an upward nod. I didn't know what this signal was supposed to mean, but apparently they did. They lifted me up by my arms, until I was standing once again. Now that I was in a position where Maria didn't have to look down at me any more, I knew I had her exactly where I wanted her—hook, line, and sinker.

"Go on," She pushed, only reinforcing my conclusion. I could sense Nettie's equal enthusiasm at the mention of more territory, though I imagined that her real enthusiasm was for the prospect of a larger menu, just more humans to choose from. I internally grimaced at her simple-minded enthusiasm, which made her seem very child-like at times. That is, if children enjoyed torturing humans before mercilessly slaughtering them and drinking their blood. Lucy rolled her eyes, feeling somewhat amused. I wasn't quite sure what would be humorous to her in this situation, but if I had to guess, then I would expect she was as aware of Maria's and Nettie's gullibility as I was. I was worried for a moment that maybe she would warn Maria of her folly, absolutely ruining my plot just as it began to work. I supposed she wanted to see the outcome of my persuasive speech on her gullible companions.

As I was analyzing the emotional climate of the army, Maria only grew more impatient. She began tapping her bare foot against the ground, creating a foot-shaped imprint in the ground under her. I decided it wasn't best to keep her waiting in this case.

"Think about it, Maria. It's never been done before. What's the one thing vampires are afraid of?" As I thought about it, there were actually _two_ things that vampires are afraid of: fire and the Volturi. But if I told Maria that there was _every_ reason to fear the upcoming battle, then that would completely eliminate my plan. Maria, however, did not catch on. Even if she did, she didn't care to acknowledge the other possible fear.

"Besides me?" She responded, amused at her own joke. Finally, the smile vanished and she was back to business. "I suppose I see where you're going. Fire is half-way to death, so most vampires naturally fear it—especially newborns." As if supporting her statement, the newborns flinched unnaturally at the mention of fire. "But I can't see what your thinking, Jasper. What can we do with fire that nobody has done before?" A side of Maria was showing that only made an appearance when she was talking serious business—the side of her that was a great leader; one that could handle armies of newborns for hundreds of years a live to tell about it. This was the side of Maria I needed in order to make my plan work. The other sides of her would just get in the way.

"Think about it Maria. As soon as the other army sets foot in the clearing, the forest behind them is set aflame, leaving them no way to run. While your newborns ambush there's, their leaders are being taken from behind, leaving the army in orderless chaos. While our well-trained newborns are taking out those amateurs, disposing of them in the already raging fire, and I am taking out their leaders, you can sit back and watch it happen. " Silence. No one said a word after I was done speaking, as if waiting for Maria's reaction so they could show their own. Her face was unreadable to someone less experienced than me, but I could see what effect my words had on her. There was that glimmer in her eye again, as if she could already see the fire before her that would ensure her victory. Her emotions were pensive, but vaguely triumphant, as if she could already see the new territory my plan would bring her.

"_Fire."_ She repeated, this time with a reverence that only validated my suspicion. The bodies around the clearing seemed to fracture at the words, because they had been so deathly still. I could feel the trepidation all around the clearing at my plan. The newborns didn't like the idea of fire, chaos, and fighting without their leader. This was Maria's dream come true and their worst nightmares. They all knew what I knew: I had completely won back Maria with my ingenious plan. They were all afraid of my plan as if they were the defenseless newborns that we're going to be ambushed. I was happy they were afraid, though. Their fear would put part two of plan in motion. I was _relying_ on it.

As if on cue, Thomas stepped forward from Nettie's side darting closer to Maria with his normal speed. He was hesitant, but something in his emotions told me that he felt responsible for the rest of the army, and- knowing their fear as well as his own – he felt the need to speak up for the rest of the newborns.

"Maria, if I may-" Maria shot him a glare for disturbing her in her reverie. He cringed a little under her gaze, shrinking from the ferocious look.

"What is it?" She snapped. He stood upright once again, trying to muster up his strength to confront Maria with his trepidation.

"It's just, well, I don't think the army is very comfortable fighting while surrounded by fire. While it gives us a quicker and easier a way to kill them, it also gives _them_ a much easier way to kill _us._ A minute difference in strength between two of the newborns could result in a tragic fatality. If their newborns are younger, stronger than us, then Jasper's plan could backfire. Especially for the more... experienced newborns." I heard Thomas gulp audibly, knowing that, at five years old, he was the oldest newborn. Putting this fact into attention was probably not a good idea. Thomas was a good soldier, and I didn't want to lose a companion, but defying Maria was a bad thing that could only go against you... unless you were me.

Maria looked at Thomas, narrowing her eyes scrutinizing. Still looking at him, she waved her hand behind her absently. As her hand passed over where I was, the newborns released me. I brought my arms to my side, glad to not be pulled in different directions anymore. I stepped up to Maria's side, looking at Thomas. I pushed a very direct feeling of panic towards him, and him only, knowing that Maria would detect my power if she was suddenly afraid as well.

As Maria was not answering his plea, he continued. "Shouldn't we at least give the other army a chance to surrender?" Lucy, Nettie, and Maria all laughed at the same time. I didn't laugh—I was programming Thomas's emotions to make him want to give up the fight. "You could get all the territory you want without losing a single soldier or having to fight whatsoever." This made Maria stop laughing. Now that she was spoiled with the idea of not having to fight herself, the idea of not having to have her army fight at all was just a little bit tempting. If I hadn't been very subtly influencing her emotions to be hesitant with her need for a fight, she would never have caved.

"I see your point, Thomas." Maria said soberly, looking around at her army. Lucy and Nettie shut up, astonished to see their co-leader so easily swayed. They didn't realize that I was influencing Thomas and Maria like puppets.

"I see your point as well. This has never been done before, and I understand your trepidation, Thomas." Maria looked at me, waiting for my verdict as if she hadn't just threatened to kill me only moments before. "I will go to the other army: Offer them complete surrender to escape the fight they inevitably will lose." I could feel the shocked emotions around the clearing at my surrender to Thomas's suggestion. Thomas was as shocked as they. Maria was pensive still, and- with just minor manipulation from me- was nodding her head in agreement.

"Fine." She said quietly. "Jasper, you may go to the other army and offer them surrender. I doubt very strongly that they will, but you may try. Give them an inclination to how prepared we are. Scare them away. But, if they do surrender, let them know that they must leave the greater Houston area for as long as we reign here, and they must relinquish all of their territory to us. Let them know that if they should so much as step foot on those grounds again, they will die." Maria's ferocity was back, but this time I was not the target. I nodded once, secretly gleaming on the inside from how easily my plan was working.

I turned, darting back to the edge of the clearing. As I left the confines of the field, I heard Maria murmur to Nettie and Lucy. As she spoke, it was obvious that Maria was smiling. "Come on, guys. While they hunt, we're stealing lighter fluid. Lots and lots of lighter fluid." I could only imagine the devilish gleam she was giving them as I ran east towards the opposite side of our territory.

**Tell me what you think in a review!**

**-TG**


	22. Fueling the Fire

**Hello everyone!**

**I'm back from Europe and I got this chapter out as soon as possible. I'm sad to report that I probably won't have co-author Alex's input for the rest of the fanfiction. *Tear* She is rather busy for the next week, and I plan on finishing this by the end of the month. That means my personal deadline is in about ten days! I'm fairly sure that I will be able to make that deadline, and this story will be finished up within this short time. I plan on posting the epilogue on July 31st, but we still have two or three chapters in between now and then. So, keep checking for updates in the next few days, because I'll have to post the remainder of the chapters in this time.**

**Keep reading everyone, and hold on to your keyboards because this story is taking off towards the end!**

**RxR**

**-TG**

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Chapter 21- Fueling the Fire

Jasper POV

I ran in a large loop around the western border of the Houston territory, heading toward the general direction of where I expected the enemy training camp to be. It wouldn't be long at all until I was reaching the end of our territory and the beginning of theirs, meaning that I would no longer be safe from warranted ambushes. By warranted, I mean that no vampire had the guts to attack me on my own territory—at least, none that had lived to tell about it. If I stepped on to an enemy coven's territory, attacks were not uncommon, if not expected. I just had to pay very close attention to the territory border lines and how deep into foreign territory I ventured. If a did this correctly, I could spend only had much time in foreign territory has absolutely possible.

There were three divisions of territory in the Houston area, claimed by three different armies. Our territory- Maria's land- was the largest, as she held all of the southern and eastern portions along with a section of the Northeastern. The city limits, suburbs, and exurbs within those portions all belonged to Maria. We placed our camp a few miles out of the Houston border to remain secluded. When a large group of vampires resides near a very public place for an extended period of time people tend to notice—especially when that particular group of vampires brings their carnivorous appetites with them. Luckily, Houston has more than 10 million people living within; therefore it's a bit easier to hide the evidence when ten or so of those people go missing at a given time. Of course, we weren't the only group that had to deal with hiding our meals.

One other group, a small army of 12 newborns and a single leader, held onto what remained of the northern territory. We greatly outnumbered this group, and Maria often complained that it was ridiculous that we allowed that group to remain. The only determining factor of their reign was the army's well-planned hiding tactics. From what we had discovered, their leader had a gift for not being found. It was a very annoying gift for those who wanted to dominate all of Houston (Maria), though it was a very handy gift for the bearer. This factor alone kept Maria from being able to launch an attack against their meager forces in the years we had held our claim on the majority of Houston. Their territory wasn't significant enough to bother over just yet, anyway. The other coven, the one which we planned to attack in little over a week, had the more significant amount of land. For a frustrating amount of time, they had held all the territory from the southwestern to the northwestern portion. The border between their southwestern portion and Maria's southern portion had been fought over and debated on for years, and never peacefully.

Up until very recent events, our two armies had been fairly even in numbers. We had always boasted a very small upper hand, having four leaders instead of two, but our newborn count had always been practically equivalent. Ever since a fight had broken out within the enemy coven diminishing its numbers by four newborns, Maria had been ready to start the feud to get their territory. Before Alice had come along, Maria had just been looking for a stimulus to begin an all-out war against them. Then, when Alice had been- I cringed internally at the thought- killed, it had only given Maria a reason to attack; not that Maria really would have cared if anything actually _had_ happened to Alice.

I was far outside of our army's territory now, but too far outside the Houston limit to actually be in the enemy's territory. I was dancing on the border now, knowing I'd have to enter sometime if I wanted to get anything done. Finally, preparing myself to spring forward at my fastest pace, I entered. Wanting to avoid being in their territory for very long, I shot through the woods at a breakneck speed. I was in the layer of forest that bordered their camp, looking for a scent that would lead me to their headquarters. I picked up on a faintly familiar scent a few miles into their territory, guessing it was probably one of their leaders, both of which I had encountered on a previous occasion.

After a few seconds of following the scent, I started to hear very familiar sounds. If I hadn't known exactly where I was, I could have sworn I was approaching our own camp. The sounds were ferocious snarls emitting from the chests of sparring newborns and the rush of wind passing them as they moved so quickly around each other that they would have been incomprehensible blurs to a human. I didn't know if I should make my presence detectable before I entered, eliminating the element of surprise. Just before I reached their field, I purposefully snapped a twig beneath my foot, deciding that interrupting them in the midst of their practice session might not be the best decision I've ever made. As soon as the little piece of wood broke, creating a infinitesimal sound to anyone other than a vampire, the growls cut off completely. The wind stopped moving as the entire army froze. I took this as my cue to enter, almost laughing at how similar the entrance was to the one I had just made in front of my own army—almost. This wasn't exactly a laughing matter.

The differences between my audience here and the audience I had had there were obvious. My army had expected my arrival, while, by the look on these newborn's faces and the surprise in their emotions, the enemy army had no inclination that I would be arriving. My army had not only anticipated my arrival, but was furious that I would return after such an impetuous display of treason against Maria. This army feared my arrival—well, the majority of them did. The entire army of sixteen newborns analyzed me carefully, taking in my horribly scarred surface in awe. I grinned a little, knowing by their fear that they were probably estimating how many newborns I had killed (too many to count) and their chances against me (Slim, if any). Two emotions were set apart from the rest, however. The two leaders eyed me disdainfully. They stood off to the side, and it was obvious that I had just interrupted them in the middle of observing their army practice. The leaders weren't afraid of me, though I had won quite a few battles against their armies before. If the battles we had fought previously were any inclination, than they had justified reason to be afraid of me. Still, if anything, they were only annoyed that I had disturbed their practice when they were supposed to be battling me in little over a week.

"Wesley, Regina—always a pleasure to see you." I greeted in a friendly tone, though my voice was laced with sarcasm. The relationship between the couple and I was anything but friendly. Wesley raised one eyebrow in surprise, while Regina stayed on her guard. She was crouched a little, as if expecting me to spring. After a few seconds of analyzing my relaxed posture, she straightened up, nodding once in response to my greeting.

"Whitlock." Wesley began formally. "I don't see any reason for you to be here. Your leader has already informed us of the date, and you don't look like her normal choice of scout." Wesley looked me over once and crouched a little. "Normally scouts are more… dispensable soldiers. I always thought Maria found you too invaluable to send into enemy territory. A little down on your game lately, eh?" He grinned, and I knew he would like nothing more than to think I was any less dangerous than I had always been. _Not likely,_ I thought, but didn't express aloud. I had to drop my guard a little if I was going to compromise with them.

"No, Wesley, I actually volunteered to come here." I let that hang in the air as I read the puzzled feelings in Wesley and his mate.

"Oh? And why would you volunteer? I've never heard of a vampire with a death wish." He and Regina chuckled at the threat, but I remained stoic.

"I came here as… an informant of sorts. You see, our army has 20 newborns. That, along with our four leaders, including myself, makes us a formidable number against your mere 16." Regina's eyes squinted in anger, but Wesley's expression didn't change.

"Yes, we know. Give us some credit, Whitlock. Your army isn't the only one with scouts." He paused, as if waiting for a reaction from me. When he didn't receive one, he continued. "From what we understand, we have no need to worry. Not only have you lost two newborns recently- one with a formidable gift, so I've been informed –but the four newborns you added have only been in your army for mere weeks. Fresh strength isn't enough to make up for lack of experience, as you should know. We are not worried about your slapdash numbers. Let me tell you this—soon after the battle starts, we will be even in numbers."

I was actually quite surprised. I hadn't expected such a good observation from the army, so I expected that they must have gained some great scouts since I had last observed them. I put on a grim expression. "Yes, I expect that you're right. Any battle we were to have now would probably be a close one, with many unfortunate fatalities. Except, I'm afraid to say you have more to worry about."

Regina finally broke her silence, "Please, Jasper, if you are trying to frighten us into surrendering, you have another thing coming to you. No amount of warning or manipulation from you could make us falter for even one second." Regina's expression and furious emotions told me that she would only be too happy to be the other thing coming to me. I almost wanted to laugh. I wasn't at all afraid of Regina, though it would be rather bothersome if I had to deal with Wesley's vengeance should anything happen to Regina because of me.

Heavily feigning concern, I appeared appropriately abashed, "I would_ never_! That would just be plain insulting to you, Regina. Where would I find the audacity to do that?" Regina narrowed her eyes once again, annoyed with my mockery of her.

Regina's emotions twisted with fury, though I dampened them a little with my power. "Whitlock, I-" But Wesley cut her off.

"Jasper, you have three seconds to explain yourself before I have to forcibly remove you from our territory." Wesley wasn't kidding now, so I began to think of how I'd put my request into words.

"Ok, then. I have a proposition for you to consider." Wesley gave me a look that told me I had the remaining two seconds to continue, or his original threat applied. "I'm not asking you to surrender your territory. I know that's far too much of you to request, and that's also the last thing that I need. What I do need is for you to simply not show up to the battle."

Wesley looked at me like I was crazy. "I don't see much difference there, Jasper. Either I forfeit my territory by not appearing at battle, or I fight for my territory and the rest of the territory I deserve." I frowned, realizing I'd have to change my approach. I was dealing with territorial, greedy vampires, and if I was going to succeed, I needed to appeal to their interests.

I started again, "What if I told you that, by not appearing at the battle, I can grant you all of Maria's territory along with what you already have?" The offer I had presented was far too good to refuse, and I could feel their interest growing at my persuasion and some minor manipulation from my power.

"Go on." Regina said, a hint of a grin appearing at the corner of her lips—though it was more from greed and the prospect of more territory than from genuine happiness.

"I can't tell you all the details of my plan, but I can tell you this—if everything goes according to this plan, then Maria will no longer be at the end of these nine days. But that is only if _everything_ goes according to plan. If you agree to remain here on the day of battle, than I can guarantee that Maria will not be here to claim her land any more." I couldn't really 'guarantee' this, but I figured that if things went wrong I wouldn't be around to face my punishment for false promises.

Wesley still looked more concerned than greedy, which made me worry if this would work. "If you plan on overthrowing your leader, how do you expect us to trust you? Why should we believe that you will just hand over the territory once Maria's gone? What should make us think that you won't take the territory for yourself?"

I laughed. "That is a good a point, Wesley, but I have no desire for Maria's territory. All I want is to make sure Maria, Nettie, Lucy, and all of their newborns are gone when I leave this place. I think I'll be leaving the South for good after this, and I don't want to be followed by Maria's soldiers. I've been here far too long, and the battle for territory doesn't really appeal to me any longer."

Regina still felt suspicious, but something told me that she wasn't suspicious of whether I was telling the truth or not. She was probably wondering why I was suddenly so changed from the way I had been when we had encountered each other previously. It surprised me when she spoke up first, "I believe him."

Wesley was surprised as well. He looked down to his companion, judging her expression for a few moments before nodding. "Ok then, Whitlock. You have yourself a deal. We will not show up to the battle, under the impression that from that point on, all of Maria's territory will be ours. Am I correct?"

I nodded. "Yes. It's a deal. Lay low for a few days, and all but a small portion of the Houston territory will be yours."

Regina smiled greedily, "That will change soon enough. That little army won't be able to hold us off for long." I laughed as the couple began to go off into battle tactics. They didn't seem to mind that I was in such close proximity as they discussed their domination of the city I had once co-ruled. I took this as a sign that they truly trusted me to keep my word. I was glad, because this was exactly what I needed.

I turned to leave, thinking of how I would relay this meeting to Maria when I got back to our headquarters. Of course, I wouldn't tell her what _really_ happened with the enemy army. I would tell her that I offered surrender to Wesley and Regina; that I told them how grossly outnumbered they were against us and how there was no chance that they would succeed. I might even tell Maria that their army was even weaker than I had originally expected. I would _lie_. I would do anything to fuel her greedy, malicious, blood thirsty mind so that when she approached that battle field and realized that her opponent was the Volturi instead of the weak enemy coven, it would only be that much more enjoyable to watch.

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**I know this one was shorter than the past few chapters have been, but trust me--the next chapter will be rather long. Hahaha... trust me. Oh well! Gotta go, some people have epic battles to write! Oops, didn't mean to give any hints. ;) **

**-TG**


	23. The Battle Part 1

**Hello Everyone!**

**I didn't expect that I would take this long to update, but I found that this whole chapter (including part 2) ended up being about 3,000 words more than I thought it would be. I enjoyed writing it so I hope you enjoy reading it just as much, if not more.**

**Here we have the chapter we've all been waiting for--well at least the first part. I already have both parts written because this was going to be one huge chapter at first. But I decided not to post a 8500+ word chapter, so I settled on splitting it into two parts. This is part one of the Battle that will determine everything. I'll be posting part 2 tomorrow, so you won't have to wait very long. The last chapter will be posted very soon after that, as I already have half of it written. I plan on posting the epilogue on July 31st, just making my one year deadline. :) Soon after that, I should be posting the information for the sequel. Yay!**

**Hope you like the chapter enough to read and review!**

**-TG**

**P.S. My editor and co-author Alex is uber busy so she was not able to assist me on the last few chapters. I hope you like it even with the grammatical errors. Please excuse any mistakes you may find.**

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Chapter 22- The Battle Part 1

Jasper POV

I stood in the field, surveying the army that had once been the center of my life absentmindedly. This should have struck me as odd to begin with, because nothing was done by my kind _absentmindedly. _Our minds were always present, always surveying and analyzing, always drawing conclusions and observations from the events occurring around us. Every little detail of everything we saw, heard, smelled, felt, tasted, and even sensed was permanently settled in our brains. Being absentminded implied some lack of thought or maybe just something forgotten, but we never forgot anything—even if we severely wanted to.

Despite all of this, I couldn't really focus on what was going on around me because I seemed to be having some sort of epiphany. I was just realizing that I may have been interpreting all of this information incorrectly. This sudden comprehension caused me to be suspicious of my current situation. Over the past nine days, nothing seemed to be going the way I thought it would, because everything was turning out to be absolutely perfect. I was suspicious because I didn't trust that every detail of my plan could run so smoothly and without obstacle when I had been so adamant that none of this would ever work in a million years. While this troubled me that I could be so grossly incorrect about something I thought I had been rather knowledgeable about, I supposed that it was just time that I faced facts; my Alice was a genius. It was hard to say that I knew what was going to happen when the girl I loved _literally_ knew what was going to happen. A little over a month ago, I might have been annoyed that someone could be so legitimately wiser than me so quickly, but, strangely enough, it only made Alice more appealing to me. The fact that she would always know more than I could ever hope to know was just another endearing quality about her. I could never dream of knowing how her brain worked, and it not only intrigued me to find out more, but made her seem mysterious to me. I just hoped that I would have forever after this day to discover more about her.

Nine days had passed very quickly, even for me. Days had seemed infinitesimal to me in all of my 150 years, but the passed nine had seemed unusually quick—too quick. I was both dreading and anticipating this day. If everything else went without hitch, this would all be over in no time at all. I would be able to file away this section of my life and start a new one. It would all be perfect... right? Like I said previously, I didn't trust fate. This would all be much easier if Alice were around to tell me it would all go perfectly instead of just playing a guessing game until I got to see her again. If there would be anything good about this day, then it would be that I got to see Alice again. I tried not to think about how it might be the last time I would ever get to see her as I sauntered over to where Maria was standing, surveying the newest four soldiers of the army.

She was shaking her head side to side slowly, as if subconsciously, and making ticking sounds with her tongue that told me she was unhappy without actually having to read her emotions. When I did sense her emotions I only found that they reinforced my previous observations; She was unhappy, dissatisfied- most likely with her soldiers- and regretful. The only reason I could conclude for the latter emotion was that she realized that she probably shouldn't have added these four so soon before a battle. I had already realized this fact, as it had been pointed out by Wesley when I had visited them before, but it seemed like Maria was just realizing this only hours before we were heading to battle. If I had any ounce of sympathy for Maria, I might have felt bad for her. But, under the circumstances, I was only feigning concern.

"Worthless. That's all they are, worthless. All they'll do is get in the way in battle. I might as well dispatch them now, save me some trouble." Maria seemed to be mumbling to herself, discussing with me, and trash-talking the soldiers to make them hustle all at the same time. I wasn't sure if I should respond to this simultaneous soliloquy, coaching, and chatting. The soldiers continued to spar pathetically back and forth, pretending not to notice her passive insults. Their faces didn't seem to register their absolute terror at the ways that Maria could "dispatch" them, but their emotions told me differently. I chuckled a little at their fright. If they would survive past today to experience Maria for a long enough time to know her, they wouldn't be so afraid of her big talk. That's all Maria was really, talk. It was when she rarely took action that you should actually be afraid. But, as she continued to speak, I knew this was one of those times where she was just arrantly thinking out loud. "I don't even know what I should do with them. Hundreds of years of running this operation flawlessly, and I have to falter because I get stuck with four useless pieces of crap."

I held in my laughter, not sure whether I was amused with her pathetic insults or the irony of her summary of her rule; flawless. Ironic, because in just a mere three hours and thirty-seven minutes she would be marching her army to their doom. I turned my attention back to her as she began speaking again, "Maybe I should use them as a bait or perhaps a distraction. Yes- send them in to stumble over to one of the enemy's newborns and try to grab them, while someone worthy of being in this army finishes the job for them. How many newborns do you think will fall for the trap before all four of them expire? Even one fallen enemy will be worth more than all four of their measly, insignificant existences." Still, none of the soldiers showed their fear. As I observed, I began to think that maybe they weren't worthless. If they could keep a straight, focused expression in the presence of Maria while she's speaking of ways to kill them, than they may be more "worthy" than Maria gave them credit for.

"Or maybe I'll just make _them_ light the fire and hope they fall in or get caught behind the wall." This made the two newer soldiers pause as if someone had turned them off with a remote. The two slightly more experienced soldiers slowed their fighting until they came to a halt, peering at Maria from their peripherals as if they were afraid to meet her gaze. Even I looked incredulously at her. She gazed at each of the men's faces scrutinizingly until she met mine with an innocent look. "What? It's a thought."

I raised an eyebrow at her incredulously, "You don't think they can fight, but you think that they can execute _my_ plan? No. I won't have it. I will be dealing with any and all fire in this battle." I was scrambling to make sure that I would be in the woods, and that I would be there alone. Of course, I could do away with anyone she assigned to help me before she could notice, but sending four newborns would be both annoying and completely unnecessary. She knew that I could handle my plan completely solo, not that there would be any surrounding, massive fire to handle anyway. If there was, I certainly wouldn't be creating it. I imagined that the Volturi would definitely have a large fire in their plan to serve justice to a large army of out-of-control newborn vampires, but I was perfectly fine with that so long as neither me or my Alice would be involved in that particular fire.

Maria turned from me back to the four soldiers, narrowing her eyes to glare at them. "Did I tell you to stop practicing? Because I don't remember doing so. You guys need as much practice as you can get, you worthless waste of atoms!" The soldiers immediately tensed and scrambled to restart their sparring. It would have been quite comical, but Maria did not find the humor in it that I did. She hit her forehead with her hand, wiping it down her face in frustration. I chuckled, but Maria shot me a glare that shut me up immediately.

"What are _you_ laughing at?" I just shook my head, afraid that I wouldn't be able to keep my composure if I spoke. Maria huffed in annoyance, and shook her head like I was an idiot. She pointed at each of the soldiers individually. "What do you people think you are doing? You call that fighting? I could do that as a human, you imbeciles. You four are perhaps the only immortals on this planet who can make grace look clumsy! You know what? I give up. Go! Prepare yourselves for battle! All _five_ of you go! That means you too, Jasper. I can't stand to look at your ugly faces any more!"

I just shook my head, fighting very hard to keep the smirk from appearing on my face. I just couldn't believe she had called five vampires ugly and four of those vampires clumsy. She turned to meet my gaze, "Hello?! Did you think I was joking? Do I look like I'm joking?! Go!"

"What would you like me to do to prepare for battle, Maria?" I finally said after weighing my options of denying any attempt of Maria to control me or capitulating to her wishes while knowing that I would never have to concede to her commands ever again after today.

"Make yourself useful! Make sure that you have enough flammable chemicals, though we've only checked a few dozen times. Or hunt! That's what the rest of the army is doing. Refuel, re energize..." She paused, glancing me over from head to toe. "and while you're at it, find a better shirt." I rolled my eyes. I hadn't really cared what shirt I had grabbed when I had had the opportunity; I just found the first thing that would cover my bare chest from Maria's wandering eyes. I shivered a little as I remembered her lingering touch that had turned into an assault. I cringed, but Maria wasn't really paying much attention to me. She had three hours until a battle, and she was often distracted before a large skirmish. I almost wanted to tell her that there was no need to get so flustered, because she wouldn't actually be doing any fighting. If Jane and Alec were there with the Volturi guard, which they undoubtedly would be, then Maria would either be floundering around blind, deaf, and useless if Alec got to her or writhing on the ground in pain if Jane got to her. A vindictive, spiteful side of me was internally hoping that Maria would receive the latter treatment, but another part told me that I should probably thank Maria. If she hadn't changed me with the idea that I could be useful to her, then I would never have lived for 150 years while eternally appearing 20 years old, which would mean that I would never have met my Alice. She would have lived, grown old, and died, and, while I was sad that she would never have those human things ever again, the selfish side of me relished in the fact that she would be mine for the rest of our existences—well, assuming that we lived past today.

I decided that I'd take Maria's advice and hunt, though the idea almost made me cringe. I had tried not to hunt often since Alice had begun her rise into Sainthood. I figured that, if Alice could actually dampen the bloodthirsty newborn feeling she had and attempt to make a substitute for taking human life, then at least I could try to diminish the amount of humans who would fall at my hand. While the idea of hunting without having to face my food's emotions was beyond tempting, I was actually nervous to try the lifestyle my love had created. I had always been this way, and had never thought that there could be a different, humane way to go through existence. I was hesitant to see if I was strong enough to try, afraid that I wouldn't be, making me feel vulnerable and weak. I knew quite a lot about feelings, and my absolute least favorite feeling to have personally (instead of sharing with others) was to feel weak or vulnerable. _Any_ vampire, for that matter, would tell you that vulnerability was both an uncommon and unwelcome emotion to our kind. I tried to shirk my pondering mind as I ran towards the city. It was just before four am, I expected, and I figured that anyone wandering the streets at this early hour was probably the type of human I didn't really mind ridding from this earth.

I found that my speculations were right as I perused the darker streets of the city. Under a bridge, I found three male homeless people. I killed them quickly and painlessly before they could wake up and burden me with their emotions. Trying to forget my earlier hesitation with a new lifestyle, I told myself that this might be my last meal of innocent humans. That thought made me hopeful, at least. I realized that I still had Maria's other task to complete; finding a new shirt. The garments that the homeless men had worn weren't worth taking off their backs. I disposed of their bodies and began running through alleys and dark streets until I was in the more central part of the city. I found a promising looking men's wear store and broke in without setting off any alarms. The store was completely pitch black, but I could see all of the merchandise perfectly. I could also see the two cameras at opposite corners of the large room. Moving so fast that the two cameras would never be able to detect me, I pulled the wires that kept the cameras working. With all possible chances of detection gone, I took my time looking through the clothes. I settled on a tight t-shirt that wouldn't get in the way, and at the last minute sprung for the less-practical looking jacket that went with the shirt on the mannequin. When I finally felt suitable for travel- not battle- I left the store, restoring everything to the way it had been except for the cameras.

I escaped the scene of the crime and began to run back towards the camp. I expected that we had less than two hours until the battle began, a little over an hour before we would leave our headquarters to begin our march to the battle field. Maria wanted plenty of time on the battle field to be prepared for the battle. According to her, I had a lot of flammable chemicals to transfer to the woods before our enemies arrived. Of course, I wouldn't actually be following through on my plan to set the forest on fire, so there was no need for me to spread those chemicals. I still couldn't believe that she hadn't called off my crazy, faux plan yet. It was unlike Maria to be so completely blindsided by her greed that she completely look over how idiotic this plan actually was. I had foreseen the flaws of this plan even though I knew that I wouldn't actually have to set anything on fire and that the enemy coven would never arrive—assuming that Wesley and Regina kept their promise, that is. I knew that if I were to actually set the forest on fire, we'd have ourselves in quite a sticky situation. Not only would we never be able to _stop_ the massive forest fire, but a flame that big is sure to alert the humans that there is a problem in the forest around their city. An incident like that would completely ruin everything all the armies, including Maria's, had fought over, considering the fact that we would have to leave to avoid detection by the humans. You would think that the human race would be more observant, having three armies of newborn vampires surrounding their city, but they still remained blissfully unaware.

When I returned to the army's camp, I watched with an amused expression as Maria scrambled around the field, always at her fastest pace. For the next hour, she darted around the field checking the soldiers, conversing with her two cohorts, Nettie and Lucy, discussing last minute battle techniques with me, and making sure the formidable pile of flammable chemicals she had acquired hadn't moved or decreased in size. The normally wild, unorganized group of male newborns was slowly being organized, being settled into squadrons of soldiers that would be ordered to take down different areas of the enemy's army. The individuals would become restless and wander from their assigned groups or begin to wrestle amongst themselves, but Maria would have none of this today. By the end of the hour, each group's soldiers were in formation. Each soldier stood in the correct position, their backs ramrod straight and their faces absolutely devoid of emotion—though their actual emotions told me that they were split between anticipation and anxiety. I imagined that they were all excited to finally put their training into action, like I had often felt when I had centered my life around this army and various other armies.

As a human, there had been nothing greater than excelling in the only thing that had mattered to me—being in the army and protection my country. Then, when I had been specifically chosen by Maria to help in her strange, supernatural army I had been somewhat honored. This had been completely new to me, and, while I was being influenced by this new bloodthirsty emotion that I had never experienced so forcefully before in my human life, I relished in this new form of strategy that only tested my skills further. Back then, it had seemed like the only thing that could ever really matter was the army and the rush of using my strategic skills in battle. I hadn't known up until recently what other emotions really felt like. I was so tuned in to all emotions that I figured that there was nothing _other_ than the ones I felt in the army; anger, resentment, and, above all, blood lust. It was so refreshing to feel something else that I couldn't wait to finally get away from the life that had once been so important to me. This new life was so much more important than that life had been: So much so that I was willing to risk everything to reach it.

Soon enough, the time to begin our march arrived. The soldiers kept their formations as they turned towards the west; the direction of the battle field. Maria had commanded select soldiers of the army to clear an enormous expanse of trees a few days ago to serve as the battle field, and that clearing was our destination now. That's where Maria would expect to find the enemy army arriving at dawn. That's where the Volturi would track Maria, having encountered her scent previously during the southern rebellion that very few armies survived. Maria had been very good about avoiding facing the Volturi, though she had had a few close calls with their guard. But today would not be like back then—she wouldn't expect their assault. Today, Maria would fall at last. Even if my plan backfired, I would make sure that Maria would not survive this day. Even if I should fall, my mission will be successful if I bring her down with me.

Our march finally began. Every male in the army was literally marching, their knees raising high before each foot landed in synchronization. The effect was a staggering rumbling in the Earth like a small earthquake erupting beneath us. The force of their steps moved so quickly and so forcefully that a wide indention in the soft earth trailed behind them, the effect of them flattening the ground beneath their feet. None of the soldier's wore shoes, yet the sound was the equivalent to an enormous army wearing heavy boots or a stampede of wild horses that had some how been organized to run in perfect sync. Even I marched, the action seeming so natural to me after a century and a half of marching to battle in this exact fashion. The only members of the army who didn't march were the women at the front. Maria, Nettie, and Lucy seemed to strut forward lithely, not creating a sound like the boisterous army behind them. Lucy and Nettie were walking to Maria's left, while I walked on her right. Thomas was directly behind us, leading the army after us. Each of the soldiers in the back row carried a huge case of flammable chemicals that blocked their line of sight as they walked, but they didn't have any trouble going in the right direction. Even while carrying a crate practically the same size as their own bodies, they didn't step out of place. In the pocket of my jeans, there was a very large, intimidating lighter that Maria had stolen for me so I could enact my fake plan. I had no intention of ever using it, and every intention of scrapping it at the first possible opportunity.

We made it to the field quickly, and I jolted a little with excitement, though I was aided a little by Nettie's constant excitement with any kind of violence. Half of this feeling, was genuinely mine though. After ten days of preparation, I would finally get to see Alice. At the same time, however, I was afraid. In some ways, I wished I wasn't meeting Alice there that day. I should have made her stay in the meadow. It was stupid of me to allow her to come so close to the army and to the Volturi, but at this point it was too late. It was D-day.

Maria made a signal to the soldiers, and two of the group parted making an aisle in between them. Through the aisle came the back row of soldiers that carried the crates. Maria nodded once to me, and made another signal to the chosen soldiers. She looked at the amount of chemicals and back to me skeptically.

"Are you sure you want to spread all of this by yourself Jasper?" Maria asked one last time. This was another very important part of my plan; I had to be in those woods completely alone. Or at least Maria had to think that I was alone. Alice would be there soon, and I was internally worrying that she would show up too early and the other soldiers would see her. I prayed silently that she would rely on her power and know exactly when to show up, as she always did. I was almost one hundred percent sure that she would, but there was always a chance that something could go wrong anyway.

I nodded in response to Maria's question, putting on an appropriate look of fierce determination. "This is _my_ plan. I don't want any else there who could possible screw it up. I'm doing this alone."

Maria looked over her army as if agreeing that they would just get in the way of my ingenious plan and spoke again. "Ok. I trust you, Whitlock. This is what I've been waiting for, and I expect that you won't screw it up either. Go, they'll follow you with the fuel. Wait on the north, northwestern side of the battlefield. I expect they'll enter on the western side, so we will wait here on the eastern. As soon as the enemy enters the battle field, begin to spread the fuel. Don't spread them before they enter, or else they'll smell it and suspect something." I nodded once more in response, and darted in the direction Maria told me to go. At my signal, the soldiers followed behind me. I found a good spot hidden behind the thick trunks of many trees. I told them to set it down where I indicated and head back to the army immediately. I didn't want them lingering around the woods any longer than absolutely necessary. I was far enough away from the army so that I couldn't see them any longer through the thick forest. I could only vaguely hear Maria as she barked last minute comments to the soldiers, so I took that as a good sign that if Alice and I were quiet we would remain unnoticed. I cringed at the thought of Maria realizing Alice was still alive _before_ the Volturi arrived. That would be perhaps the worst possible scenario that could occur on this day.

Just as I thought of Alice again, I felt two tiny arms wrap around my waist. I closed my eyes, amazed at how good it felt to be back in her arms after so long away from her. I was pleased that an identical feeling was coming from Alice. I turned around in her arms to face her. I wrapped my arms around her tiny shoulders and buried my face in her spiky hair.

"I missed you." I whispered into her hair. She giggled a little, and the sound made my still heart want to jump out of my chest with happiness. If everything I said made that tinkling bell sound come from her, then I would never ever stop speaking. That sound was the greatest sound in the world.

"I missed you too, Jasper. But if you value our lives, I suggest you start moving. Maria might think the enemy is coming in from the west side of the field, but the Volturi is coming in from the North side." I was a little disheartened that her tone was all-business, and she wasn't reveling in our reunion like I was, but then her words registered in my mind. I pulled my face from where it rested on her head, and looked at her as she brought her head from my chest.

"You mean the side of the field that we're standing on currently?" I asked, a little stunned. I hadn't registered that we might encounter the Volturi _before_ the battle began. I guess that's what I had Alice for. My eyes widened as she nodded slowly. Since I didn't seem to be able to move at the moment, she glanced around quickly before grabbing my hand and running. As she dragged me after her, I noticed that her newborn strength wasn't near as much as it had been at first. While I knew this unreasonable strength always goes down the older a vampire gets, it concerned me that hers would fall so quickly. She was only just over a month old, so she shouldn't be near this weak yet. Still, what she did have left was enough to pull me away from that very dangerous spot on the north side of the battlefield. I supposed that I should be concerned that I had left the large pile of flammable chemicals there where the Volturi would be in just moments, but I was more concerned with saving my skin at the time.

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**Like I said, the second part will be up tomorrow afternoon sometime (though this all depends on what timezone you're reading from). The rest of the battle will be from Alice's point of view, so I hope you'll enjoy that as well. You'll find that there is a lot more of the actual battle in the second part, so don't be discouraged. Tell me what you thought of the first part in a review, and keep reading everyone!**

**The Witness is almost done, hang in there for two more chapters and an epilogue. :)**

**-TG**


	24. The Battle Part 2

**Hello again. :)**

**As I promised, here is the second part of the battle. Hope you enjoy it. **

**Read and Review**

**-TG**

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Chapter 23- The Battle Part 2

Alice POV

I was horrified at Jasper's terrible luck, and secretly thought that maybe Maria had done it on purpose; set up my Jasper exactly where the Volturi would be entering. Then I would remember that Jasper and I were the only ones who knew that the Volturi were coming today to stop the battle. Still, I held it against Maria. I didn't know why Jasper had frozen up like he was suddenly petrified when we had to get away immediately, but I just grabbed his hand and began running. I thought it was sweet that he had been so excited to see me—don't get me wrong, I was just as excited to see the man I loved after ten days of being away from him. But we didn't have time for touching, heart-felt reunions. We had too much that we needed to be prepared for. There was an army of newborn vampires that could kill us if they realized I wasn't dead, and an even more dangerous group of vampires that- according to my various visions -would be exactly where we had been standing moments ago in only minutes. I remained absolutely quiet as we sprinted through the thick mass of trees, knowing that if I were to say anything too loudly or do anything that would make a sound, the army would be able to hear. So many things could possibly go wrong today that I had too many visions replaying in my head to count. They seemed like warnings to me: If you do this, you'll die this way; if you do that, you'll die that way; But only if you do everything completely and absolutely perfectly will you survive today. One mistake could ruin everything. It hardly seemed fair.

Jasper squeezed my hand a little, and I instantly relaxed under his calming power. I imagined that he was concerned with my incessant worrying, but knew he couldn't say anything to me and risk being heard by someone other than me. After a little searching, I found that spot from my vision. The location was perfect for observing the fight without being seen. We were covered by a thick layer of brush, but could still see through the layer out onto the field. If we were quiet, we wouldn't be heard, and as long as the scene in front of us was loud enough, we would be able to hear them. I crouched down beneath the cover, and pulled Jasper down with me. We were finally sitting in the designated safe area from my vision, so I began to genuinely relax. Jasper settled in to the spot in front of me, nodding in approval at my choice of location.

Finally, I could enjoy seeing him again. "Hi." I whispered with a smile.

He chuckled, and whispered "Hello" in response. I was happy that he had caught on to the atmosphere and knew that he needed to stay practically silent. I smiled and brushed the side of his cheek with my hand. He leaned in a little towards me, and I met him there before he went any farther. I kissed him gently, happy that I could finally do that after too long of a time going without him. Kissing him was like coming up for fresh air after being held under water too long, though I realized that that probably wasn't a good comparison considering that I didn't need to breathe. Well, kissing him was like finding an alternative to human blood after starving myself for two weeks straight. _There's a good comparison_, I thought. _At least I could say I remembered what _that _felt like._

I had been monitoring the possibilities of today over and over again during my time in the meadow, trying to make sure that I was prepared to do whatever I could to make sure the vision of us succeeding today would happen, and the vision of us dying a horrible death did not happen. When I wasn't looking for a change in the future, I was hunting. I was hunting so much that I was fairly certain that all animals within ten miles of the meadow had taken the hint from their little animal friends that had died by my hand and ran far, far away. It made finding prey rather frustrating, because I didn't dare stray too far from the meadow in fear of encountering humans. I shuttered at the possibility, and tried to think of my animal hunting experience instead. I never seemed to be really satisfied, per say, but at least I wasn't lying on the ground useless from the unrelenting thirst like I had been during my weeks of starvation. I could get used to this lifestyle, I had decided. I _had_ to get used to this. I wouldn't let myself revert to how I was supposed to be.

Not wanting to think about that dismal subject anymore, I turned back to my Jasper. I _always _enjoyed thinking about that. Our faces were still only inches apart, and he smiled at me. For a moment, I forgot everything else. I didn't register where we were, and I didn't register any problems in the world. Unfortunately, we did have problems. That's why we were interrupted from our little fantasy world as Maria's piercing growl seemed to split the air around us. I hadn't realized it, but in that moment of bliss the Volturi had very silently entered the battlefield. I realized this was probably the moment where Maria realized that Jasper had tricked her. I saw her through the leaves that surrounded us, and her eyes darted around the forest behind the ten gray-hooded vampires in front of her as if looking for a running figure or the beginnings of an enormous fire. But nothing was there in the woods, and nothing would be there, because Jasper was over here safely with me. This was the point where she was putting together all the pieces that told her this plan was all a plot to rid the world of this army. A part of me wanted to cheer in triumph, but I quickly quieted that part of me, knowing that this battle was only just beginning. Jasper and I looked on, both of us remaining deadly silent and still.

The majority of the army didn't realize what was happening, and I suspected that Maria, Nettie, and Lucy had never told them about the Volturi and what they meant. A few of the soldiers began to shift nervously and step back a few steps as if they were about to run for it. The other soldiers didn't really look nervous. I imagined that if I hadn't seen the vicious, fatal Volturi in my visions, and I hadn't heard how terrifying they really were from Jasper I wouldn't have been afraid of the Volturi either. There were twice as many newborns as gray, cloaked figures. Most of those figures were very large, formidable looking vampires, but a few of them didn't look threatening at all. Two in particular, a boy and a girl by the shape of their bodies, were practically as short as I was. Surely, in the ignorant soldiers' eyes, they would be able to take this enemy easily. But Maria, Nettie, Lucy, a few of the soldiers, Jasper, and I knew better. We knew the number of Volturi members didn't really matter in the end, because their fighters had been doing this job for hundreds or even thousands of years. Even the little cloaked figures were dangerous, because they most likely had a formidable gift that would tip the scales heavily in the Volturi's favor. Jasper had once told me that the Volturi only accepts very gifted vampires into their guard, and I could guess that the short little girl vampire was none other than that terrifying girl from my vision—the one that had made me writhe in pain just by looking at me. Yes; the vampires who knew what was going on definitely knew that there was no hope for them.

"Maria, you are accused with disturbing the peace and causing chaos within our race by creating an army of newborn vampires. You and your entire army are sentenced to immediate execution for your crimes." While the leader of the group spoke in a booming, authoritative voice, I had seen that the air in between the two groups of vampires seemed to alter—to warp in odd places, almost like the effect of intense heat rising through the air. When he was finished speaking, the entire army erupted into snarls and growls. Many of the soldiers started to run, but, before they could get very far, they all froze. It was as if someone had pushed pause only on the soldiers, Nettie, and Lucy. All of their eyes glazed over unseeingly and they began to flop around on the ground like fish out of water. Something about watching all twenty-two vampires appear so vulnerable and useless was intensely wrong. I had never seen a vampire look so completely mutilated, their bodies twisting in odd directions as if they had no control over their own limbs anymore. I knew that who ever was causing this abomination to occur was beyond powerful, and it only sobered me more to see the legendary power of the Volturi guard in action. The only person who hadn't been affected by the power was Maria, and now she sprung forward toward the Volturi as if she hadn't realized that her army was no longer following her. She growled as she pounced towards the perfectly motionless cloaked figures. Half way between the two groups of bodies, Maria fell to the ground, her body twisting and writhing unnaturally and her face warped into a mask of pain. It appeared like she was being burned alive by some invisible flame. I recalled this sight briefly from my first vision of the Volturi; the sadistic little girl who could cause searing pain just by looking at you. When Jasper told me that the Volturi only accepts very powerful vampires, he had not been kidding. Just these two tiny vampires could incapacitate an entire army of seemingly uncontrollable newborn vampires.

When all of the vampires were no longer moving at their own will, the guard, all except the two powerful little vampires, moved forward in synchronization. Quickly and efficiently they began their execution. I was completely dumb-struck; I needed to look away, but I couldn't. I couldn't stand to watch as these powerful vampires tore apart these mutilated, vulnerable bodies, but I couldn't make myself look away or even blink for that matter. I was frozen in place, unable to avert my eyes from the horrid scene. The sound reached me before my mind knew what was happening. The atrocious sound of metal being shredded and bent in wrong directions pierced the air, and then I realized that the bodies of the soldiers were being impaired before my eyes. Body parts flew in haphazard directions, or so it seemed. In reality, the direction of the guards throwing was very precise, and soon enough there were two huge piles of shredded bodies in the middle of the field. I felt as sick as a vampire could feel as I watched the body parts pile on top of each other, some still moving, some eyes still blinking on decapitated heads. I could feel Jasper looking at me, probably worrying about me, but I couldn't look away. I couldn't look at him and tell him that I was perfectly fine, because I was definitely _not_ fine—far from it actually. My body shook with sobs that couldn't really help release the tension in my body, the growing tension of unwavering guilt and mourning. I had caused this. This massacre was completely and utterly my fault, and now there was no turning back. I wished deeply that I could turn back the hands of time and put myself in their places, to experience the painful, degrading death that I deserved and they had not. But it was far too late to regret my decisions.

As if in a daze, I stumbled forward on to my hands, grinding the sticks into saw dust beneath my palms. The sound filled the silence around us deafeningly, now that the sound of tearing metal was finished. Very briefly, the vision of what was about to happen flashed before my eyes before it actually happened, though I was too engaged in the current scene to notice. The very small, but distinguishable sound caught the attention of the nearest Volturi member; the little sadistic girl with the horrible power. For a moment, her focus was taken away from the still writhing body of Maria, who was the only vampire who hadn't been torn apart yet. In that second of distraction, Maria jumped up and began running in our direction at the exact same time. I didn't know if she knew that we were waiting in the exact direction that she was running towards, but I knew that she was approaching at an incredible speed, even for a vampire, and that she was being trailed by an equally fast member of the Volturi guard. I could feel Jasper start to panic next to me, jolting up and pulling on my arm to drag me away from the approaching vampires, but I couldn't move. I seemed to be paralyzed. When the Volturi member caught up with Maria and wrestled her to the ground beneath him, it seemed like they were only inches away. So close that I could reach out and touch Maria's face if I wanted to. But I didn't want to. I wanted to get away. I wanted to run for miles until I was very far away from this place, but I couldn't move. Just as the Volturi member leaned over to shred Maria's neck with is teeth, Maria looked up, meeting my gaze. For a second, I could feel all of her dread, and I could see death in her eyes. In that moment, everything Maria was feeling was conveyed to me, and I wasn't even the empath. The last emotion that registered in her deep, blood- red eyes was shock. She saw me staring at her stupidly, and fury seemed to rip through her from the inside. She mouthed my name in disbelief before the shredding metal sound pierced the air once more and her head rolled over to me, frozen in that same shocked expression.

The Volturi guard tore the rest of Maria's body and threw it on top of the second pile just as it was set aflame by another member of the Volturi guard. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as the Volturi guard in front of us turned around, while Jasper was desperately tugging my arm in the other direction. Just as I regained use of my limbs, the guard met my gaze. I didn't wait to see if he would follow us, I just began to run. I knew how fast this guard was, for I had just seen him take down Maria even at the fastest pace I had ever seen her sprint. I knew that Jasper and I had no chance of out running him. I thought for a moment that maybe he wouldn't follow us. Maybe he would let the observers of their massacre go free. But the approaching pad of foot steps resounding behind me told me differently. Jasper ran as fast as he possible could, towing me behind so I would run faster. Though it seemed like we were running faster and faster, the footsteps behind me grew louder as the attacker grew dangerously closer. I knew that I was only counting down the seconds to my own death. I could feel that emotion that I had seen in Maria's eyes just before she had been impaled, except this feeling was all mine, though it could have been Jasper's as well if he was accidentally spreading it towards me. It seemed like we were running for the longest time, but it had really only been a few seconds when we saw the rocky outcrop up ahead. I could see it through the line of trees on our right that we were surrounded by this massive, structure that was far too sheer to attempt to climb. We had reached a dead end. How horribly ironic that statement was.

Realizing this as well, Jasper reeled around to face the on coming attacker. He pulled my arm roughly until I was safely behind him, and braced his self for the impact. When the guard appeared out of the dark shadow of the trees, he was running at full force towards us, though he hadn't expected Jasper to be standing there, waiting for him. When the attacker reached us, his dangerous teeth and claws bared, Jasper dodged his blow and grabbed him around the torso, flinging him over our heads until he was throttling towards the rocky surface of the cliff. The sound of the two hard surfaces colliding was like a sonic boom, and I had the odd sensation to cover my ears, protecting my eardrums from the earth-shattering noise. I didn't realize that my ears didn't need protection, as much as the rest of me did.

The guard righted himself immediately, falling from where he had made contact with the wall to immediately spring back into a crouch. Jasper began running first, but the guard was soon to follow. I wanted to hold Jasper back, to not let him fight, but I knew that that move could be fatal to both of us. It was either we fight this vampire and die, or we don't fight and die. I wanted to cry. Jasper had been right all along: there was no way to win. No matter what, we would die. I watched the two vampires clash directly in between where they each had been previously standing. Jasper made the first lunge, but the guard dodged it. The way they moved around each other was very, very familiar from watching the army spar and practice incessantly, but there was also something very different about watching this. Unlike watching the Volturi disassemble the army, this was an even fight—I could see that in the way the guard held an annoyed expression, as if he wasn't expecting such a good soldier. Unlike watching the newborns spar, they were both skilled at what they were doing, both having trained for years and years just for this moment. Unlike watching the more experience vampires practice, this was _real._ These blows were not meant to pass by the skin just millimeters from contact; they were meant to kill. The guard was trying to kill my Jasper, and Jasper was trying to kill the guard.

I had no idea what to do but watch. I felt completely useless as I saw the blows get closer and closer to real contact. I shook my head in frustration, wishing I could kill the guard myself and save the one person who mattered the most to me. I knew I would only get in the way if I tried to fight, but I was itching to do something. One claw raked so close past Jasper's chest that the jacket and shirt he wore tore beneath the guard's hand. Jasper seemed to notice this, and he scrambled to make up for the advantage his opponent had gained. I wanted to do something. I needed to do something desperately to help Jasper. Just then, the guard lunged forward, and his teeth fell onto Jasper's shoulder. I could hear the tearing off flesh beneath his bite. Jasper cried out in pain, and I didn't want to look at the marred shoulder to see just how damaged it was. I was too angry to function at the time. A film of red covered my eyes as fury seeped through me, and I wasn't longing to do something anymore; I was _doing_ something. No one on this Earth would hurt my Jasper again, if I had anything to do with it. I had absolutely no training. I had no idea how to fight, but at that moment I didn't need years of training to take action. I sprung on the vampire, attaching to his back like a parasite while clawing at his neck with my nails and teeth. I wrapped my arm around his neck, letting the newborn strength I had been adamantly holding back flow through my muscles as I pulled upwards on the vampires neck. I could feel the flesh tearing beneath me as I tugged on his head. He thrashed around wildly to try and knock me off, but I was unmovable. He bit my arm to try and remove it from his neck, and I could feel the venom seeping into the wound. The bite scorched with pain, but it didn't make me release my grip.

Finally, taking advantage of the distraction, Jasper lunged forward. After a few seconds of thrashing his claws at the vampire's torso, the body split in half beneath me. I jumped off his back before his top half fell to the ground. I landed on the top half of the body, still beyond furious. Straddling the torso, I twisted the head until it finally came completely off. At least I could say that I finished what I started. I tore the limbs from the torso after that, piling my collection of body parts into a pile. Jasper did the same with the bottom half, but when he met my gaze his eyes sent a flurry of emotions. He looked almost... hurt. I knew he was in pain, because I could feel the same pain in my forearm, but this was a different, deeper pain. I imagined that he didn't like seeing me take on the guard like I did, risking myself to save him. I didn't care though, I had helped kill him. Also in Jasper's eyes was shock, obviously from my outburst of anger. He looked over the decapitated body as if thinking deeply about something.

After a few seconds, he glanced around as if expecting someone else to show up. "Come. We must go. They might be looking for him."

I shook my head, nervously. "What about the fire? He won't be dead until we set the pieces on fire" I babbled as if I didn't know that he knew this fact already.

"We can't! We don't have fire! I have nothing to light-" Suddenly his hand fell to his pocket, where I could see that something was hidden. He quickly pulled out a large silver object. He motioned for me to stand back and quickly lit the pile of body parts, the flesh igniting as if it were paper. I didn't know where he got the huge lighter, and I wasn't about to ask. If we weren't scrambling to save our lives, I might have acknowledged how awfully convenient this situation was. "Ok. Let's go now, we have to hurry. We can't stop until we're on the other side of the city. We'll discuss what to do there."

I nodded, following as he darted off in a different direction than the one we had come from. As we ran, the anger ebbed from me, replaced by a very different feeling. I realized quickly and hopefully that both Jasper and I had been wrong at some point; maybe we didn't have to die. Maybe alone we wouldn't have been able to survive, but together we fought off all the odds that had been stacked against us. I mean, looking at us, we were fine. Jasper held his shoulder as he ran; holding the arm together as it healed, and the torn flesh on my forearm immediately began to reconnect its self. I could already begin to see the beginning of a crescent-shaped scar that would match the many that were already covering Jasper. So we had a few scars? It didn't matter at all now, because We. Were. _Alive._

"Jasper?" I whispered, breaking the silence as we ran.

"Yes?" He murmured back, still a hint of that pain lingering in his eyes.

"We're alive, Jasper. I told you we could make it." I smiled, and my happiness must have influenced him a bit. A shadow of a smile threatened at the corner of his lips; a ghost of happiness on his otherwise pensive, pained expression.

"Yes, I suppose we are. At least we aren't dead yet." His voice was grim, but at least face looked a bit more hopeful.

_Always the glass half empty._ I thought. I shook my head at him a little. _Jasper was always the pessimist. _I added. Though that was the good thing about being psychic; looking at the sudden vision of the future, I knew that what he said was wrong. We were alive, and we would remain so for as far as I could see.

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**Just one chapter left! I'll be posting it sometime in the next few days, so be watching out for it. Tell me what you thought of the chapter?**

-**TG**


	25. Together

**Wow. This is the last chapter. That's... amazing! I can't believe I have finished it. Thank you to all the people who have followed the story since the very beginning, and thank you if you have just recently found this story and have read it all the way through! I couldn't have done this without everyone who contributed. I'm amazed that I have about 13,000 hits and 150 reviews! Everyone who has submitted a review is absolutely awesome! **

**I was definitely not intending this chapter to be THIS long! I had part written already from a random bout of inspiration a few months ago, but I had to change some things with that part to follow the plot. I added the beginning of the chapter and the end, fixed the middle, and before I knew it, I had over a five and half thousand word chapter. It's only fitting that the last chapter be the longest! I really hope you enjoy the last chapter. I know I have enjoyed every minute of the past year with this story. Of course, there was business and chronic writer's block, but in the end it was worth it. :)**

**Tell me what you think in a review!**

**Keep Reading everyone, and look out for the epilogue and the sequel information to come!**

**-TG**

**P.S. Sorry again about any grammatical or spelling errors. Alex couldn't finish out the story with me, so I have no one to edit. **

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Chapter 24- Together

Alice POV

We ran for only a few minutes, but they were rushed, frantic minutes. We weren't talking, just listening intently for the hint of the sound of approaching foot steps. I wasn't nearly as worried as Jasper was, though I couldn't say I wasn't at all concerned. I was worried only for Jasper though, not both of our lives. I was still on some sort of high from surviving the attack of the Volturi guard. Not only that, but I actually helped defeat him. I did something useful. I helped save Jasper's life. Yes, I was definitely less concerned than Jasper. Still, I remained silent as we ran. Our silences were completely different though; mine was the content silence of someone who was perfectly happy with their life and Jasper's was a cold, tense silence of someone who disregarded their victories because they thought they weren't out of the woods yet. I supposed that we weren't exactly out of the woods yet, but we were pretty darn close, which was good enough for me.

Finally, without warning, Jasper stopped dead in his tracks—no pun intended. I halted behind him without threatening to run into him. He turned around abruptly, staring into my eyes with a very different emotion than the mask of worry he'd been wearing since we left the battle evident in his gaze. This emotion was a fervor, a desperate passion that I'd never seen in him before. Before I could ask what was wrong with him that made him look this way, he was kissing me. He didn't bother waiting to pick me up, so I could be at his height. His lips were on mine so heavily that I was actually taken back. He had never kissed me like _this_ before, and I still hadn't determined whether I liked it more than our gentle, sweet kisses or not. After I got over the initial shock, I was able to kiss him back. I kissed him hesitantly at first, but he would have none of that—there was nothing hesitant about this kiss. This kiss was a hungry, needing kiss that completely caught me off guard. I didn't know what had evoked this feeling in Jasper. Suddenly, I didn't have to imagine what Jasper was feeling. I guess he wanted to share this feeling with me, because I felt the same vehemence that had been so blatant in Jasper's eyes wash over me in a wave, bringing me up to exactly the same level of need Jasper was already at. Now he didn't have to lean down to reach me or pick me up so I could reach him, because I was reaching him just fine on my own. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself up, wrapping my legs around his waist when I was at the right height. I matched his fervor now, my hands finding there way up to his hair. I had never felt this emotion before in my short life as a vampire, and I was fairly certain that I had never felt this in my human life either. I would remember a feeling this strong, I know it. It was so overwhelming that I didn't know how we would ever stop this kiss, with Jasper spreading the emotion towards me so heavily. When Jasper finally stopped projecting his own emotions, I could begin to think straight again, reclaim my own emotions. The kiss was so frantic, so desperate that it scared me a little. It was like Jasper thought he would never see me again. I had thought it would be endless, but I had to end it. I had to know what Jasper was thinking.

I finally disentangled myself from Jasper's body and hopped down to where I had been previously standing. I still had my eyes closed, my mind going through how I would word this question without offending Jasper. I pressed my lips into a tight line, though I couldn't hide all traces of my pleased smile. Somehow, I was happy, pleasant, scared, and concerned all at the same time. I shook my head a little, and still without opening my eyes, I spoke. "What. the hell. Was _that?_!" Finally, I opened my eyes, trying to catch his reaction.

He had turned around, now facing the thick trunk of a towering tree. His hands were outstretched, his palms flat against the bark while his fingers dug into the tree. The wood crumbled beneath his hands, and soon there were hand shaped holes dug half way through the trunk. "_Alice_…" His voice came out in an agonized strain, and I was instantly at his side, trying to figure out what could be wrong with him.

"What?" I asked, my voice coming out somehow both choked and smooth as silk. "What's wrong, Jasper?"

He met my gaze finally, holding it as he pondered something to himself. Finally he spoke again, this time his voice coming out clearly at least, though a hint of that agony was still there. "Alice, what would compel you to fling yourself onto the back of a Volturi guard?"

I almost laughed—_almost._ After all that build up, he had just been wondering about my sudden action during our fight. I secretly relished in that thought; our fight, not his fight. For once, I hadn't let him be the hero like he had always been for me. For once, I didn't stand aside while he protected me. For the first time, we had been a team. Obviously, though, Jasper didn't like to share the spotlight. "What? Did you expect me to just stand there and let him do that to you?" I asked.

Jasper cringed, as if remembering the feeling of his arm tearing from his shoulder. I cringed as well, just thinking about it. _No._ I thought. _There was no way I would've just stood there and let that happen to my Jasper._ He obviously thought I should have.

"Yes!" He answered. "Yes, you should have let me take care of it! Do you not understand what could have happened? You were hurt, but that was nothing! You could have been killed!"

My eyes widened in disbelief. "Me?! I was hurt? I could have been killed? Jasper, you were way worse off than I was! It wasn't a matter of 'you _could have been_ killed.' You would have been killed! I don't know if you realized this, Jasper, but that guard was trying to kill you!"

Jasper scoffed. "Wow. That must have been what he was doing, and this whole time I thought he was trying to tickle me." His voice was positively oozing with sarcasm, and I narrowed my eyes at him, not caring for the tone. He sensed my annoyance, and sighed. "Alice, you know I can take care of myself. It's you that I'm worried about."

I touched his shoulder lightly, touched at his concern. Then, feeling the torn clothing beneath my hands, I remembered why I was angry and slapped him in the same shoulder. "You idiot! What do you mean, 'you can take care of your self?' Obviously not, or your arm wouldn't have been torn off." My hand still rested on his shoulder, and I felt through the torn shirt and jacket until I could feel the slightly raised surface of his newest scar. This one wasn't in the perfect crescent shape that most of his scars were. This scar was long and jagged from the guard's thrashing.

"Well look who's talking?" He grabbed the hand that had been resting on his shoulder and held it between us, displaying the crescent shaped scar that had appeared half-way down my forearm. I frowned at it, and I realized that, facing this direction, my scar was a reflection of my own expression. I almost wished I could flip the scar so it would be a smile instead.

I smiled a little at Jasper, trying to lighten the mood a little. "Look." I said quietly, taking my hand out of his and holding my arm parallel to his arm. "Now we match." I was right; there was the exact same scar in the exact same space on his arm, except his was not alone. He had at least a dozen other scars on the surface of his arm to keep the other one company. I looked at the one on his shoulder, and back to the one on my arm, remembering the fallen guard.

"Jasper?" I whispered after a long silence. "What are we going to do?"

He shook his head, the determined look I recognized coming back. "I don't know. I can't know what the Volturi is thinking, so I can't know what they're going to do. I just wish I could see what they're planning…" Jasper's voice was frantic, his voicing rising in speed with his panic. As he trailed off, he met my concerned gaze. As he scrutinized my face, I could practically see the light bulb flicker on above his head. "But you can." He said.

"What?" I asked, not following where his panic had taken him.

"You can see the future." He answered, and I instantly smirked.

"Did you just figure this out?" I asked, sarcasm lacing my voice.

"No, Alice, you can see the future. Do you think you could see what the Volturi is planning on doing?" I realized what he was asking, and I was surprised I hadn't thought of it already.

"Yes, I can do it. If I focus-"

"Then I need you to focus, Alice. I need you to concentrate on finding out exactly what the Volturi is planning. Focus on their plans with the guard. See if they catch our scent, and if they plan on tracking it-" He was rambling in his panic so I felt the need to interrupt him.

"Jasper! I never thought I'd be able to say this, but you really need to calm yourself down!" I smiled and shook my head. I never thought that I'd have to tell Jasper to calm himself down. He was normally pretty good at doing that without any help. He was about to speak again, but I held a finger to his lips to silence him. I took a step back from him, and closed my eyes. I pressed my fingers to my temples as if I was trying to locate that part of my mind. I didn't exactly know how I had channeled a specific vision before, but I figured that if I just thought of the Volturi like I had thought of Bella and Jasper before, then maybe this could work. I imagined the Volturi; the big, hulking fighters and the powerful little ones who wiped out the entire army. I imagined the burning remains of the Volturi guard, trying to see what they would decide. Finally, the vision came to me. This one was unlike most of my visions, as it wasn't a clear, recognizable scene that I could watch until it was over. This vision was series of quick flashes.

_I saw the Volturi leaving the battle field, then the remains of the fire that charred the guard's dismembered body; the Volturi guards arguing over something in the exact place where Jasper and I had killed the guard; One, a huge guard that must have been one of their fighters, yelling adamantly to the others. The little vampire girl cast him a warning glance, and murmured the exact phrase I needed to hear, "Demetri! We need to consult Aro before we do anything more. We didn't plan on this." She gestured to their fallen guard's remains. The one who I figured was Demetri looked at the sunken pile of ashes disdainfully._

_He growled and looked back at her, "It doesn't matter if-" The little one shot him a warning glance, and he quieted instantly. "This is not over." He added._

"_You're right. It's not. But it's not up to us to decide the best plan of action." She gestured with her hand, and the guards around her followed as she exited through the lining of trees. Demetri was the last in the group and he looked back to the guard and stopped. He darted over to where his remains were once more, and inhaled the air around him with a deep breath, smelling the air. He shook his head, and sauntered off in the direction the rest of the Volturi had exited from._

I blinked, coming back from the vision. I frowned a little, but at least I had been able to get something. I looked at Jasper, who appeared to be anxiously waiting. He realized I was no longer in a trance, and spoke hesitantly, "So? What's the verdict?"

"They haven't come to one yet." I answered. "They don't know what to do, because they weren't expecting it. I suppose they didn't imagine that one of their members would be killed. They're going to someone named _Aro_ for the verdict."

This information meant practically nothing to me, but a triumphant smile graced Jasper's face and I knew this must be good news. "You know what this means?" He asked. I shook my head in response. "It means that we have time—and a good amount of it, if I'm correct. Aro is their leader. In most cases, Aro and the other leaders, Caius and Marcus, go with the guards to trials. But I suppose they didn't consider this as much of a trial as an execution. We were extremely lucky that Aro decided not to come, because this means the guard will go back to Italy. Even then, I think it will take them time to decide the best course of action. They won't be able to know who killed their member, so they won't know what the fight entailed. Do you know if they got our scents?"

I thought about that, remembering the huge guard who had smelled the air around the body remains. I nodded, "Yes. I'm pretty sure they did."

This made him frown, but it wasn't a hopeless frown, just an annoyed frown. "Well, I suppose we'll have to face them eventually. But that day won't be soon. Just keep an eye out for what they decide, ok?" I nodded, smiling. We had _time._ Time was an amazing thing when you had previously thought you may have had only ten days to live. Jasper seemed to catch on to my mood.

He kissed my forehead, "You were right, Alice. We did survive. Now I have the only person I need right next to me, and most of the people I don't need long gone."

I rested my head against his chest, thinking about what he had said. _They were all long gone,_ I thought. _Maria, Nettie, Lucy, the soldiers—all nonexistent except for ashes. _As Jasper and I walked aimlessly, the grim realization began to hit me. I held Jasper's hand and looked down to the ground, thinking about everything that had happened because of me. The battle, the lost lives, and the blame seemed to creep up on me out of nowhere. Suddenly, I couldn't get the image of the soldiers' frightened expressions from my mind, and I realized solemnly that- as a vampire- I would _never_ forget this moment. That fact in itself made my seemingly adrenaline-rushed brain (if such a thing were possible) become sober in an instant. Humans had it easy, as I had probably had once. As a human, you can forget the traumatic experiences in your life, and- even if you can't- you can repair your emotions; heal from the emotional wounds you obtain. Not me. My body and mind were frozen in their growth span, and the emotional wounds would never heal. Every time I closed my eyes, I would see the burning bodies, the blinking eyes of dismembered heads, and the malice in the eyes of those vampires who had mercilessly tortured those poor souls.

Those souls- once loved by someone as I had been- whose lives had been taken at such a young age, then put into a torturous army against their will, and killed before they could even get past the blood-thirsty, crazed life of a newborn. All those lives had been sacrificed on _my _behalf. And- even if Jasper insisted their sacrifices were worth it- I could practically feel the guilt gripping me from the inside. I wasn't sure if I had been a religious human, but I prayed anyway. I prayed to every god I had ever heard of that, after we died, we go _somewhere_, anywhere that would diminish that feeling of guilt that threatened to tear me apart from the inside. I prayed that those poor souls that had sacrificed their lives were somewhere where they were happier than they had been in this torturous life.

I felt an out-of-place wave of calm wash over me, and I looked up at Jasper sadly, wishing he would let me wallow in my sudden onslaught of grief. Someone needed to mourn those people, and they didn't have anyone else for the job. All they had known was leaders, enemies, and war, while their family had been forgotten. I was the only person who would remember this day as a day of loss, even if I only gained from it. I didn't even know their names so I could mourn them properly. They were all unknown soldiers to me, dying on my behalf. _This must have been what Helen of Troy felt like._ I thought to myself. Before that day, I couldn't imagine how someone could have been so selfish: starting a war just so she could be with the man she loves. But here I was, no better than Helen; coming from a war with no survivors, holding the hand of the man I love. But, looking up into Jasper's eyes, I could see why Helen would risk it. I would rather the world ended before I would let Jasper die—to hell with the Spartans.

A while back, I had done the same thing for my sister; risked myself and others to save her. And, knowing that the two people I love more than anything else were alive, I didn't regret my decisions. _Bella,_ I thought. Now that I thought about it, I had no clue if Bella was still alive, though I had been monitoring her with my power whenever I could. Still, she was _so_ clumsy, especially for a human. Who knows? She could have tripped onto a busy street since I had last seen her future. I laughed bitterly. Jasper looked over at me, curiosity evident on his face.

I didn't answer his questioning look; I just looked back at him, an idea that I had previously had coming back into my mind. "Jasper, where are we going?" It was a genuine question, even though I knew where we would go. I had seen it weeks ago, for that vision had saved me from my catatonic state. Then, I saw us living through the battle and making our way to that distant place where Jasper and I could start over. Despite my knowledge, I wanted to know what Jasper thought, for I had yet to tell him that we would be joining these particular vampires I had once mentioned.

"I…" He paused, clearly unsure of the answer. "I don't know. Honestly, I didn't think we'd survive the battle, even with your plan."

A half-smile lit my face. "Nice that you have such faith in me, dear." I swung our linked hands as we walked.

"I know: it's horrible. I should have had all the faith in the world in you. I just… couldn't see the light like you could." He ended in a remorseful tone, but I wouldn't have any of that. I pulled him towards me with our entwined hand and kissed him, wrapping my arms around his neck as I reached up on my tip-toes. His frown went away beneath my lips, and finally he let go, picking me up until I was the same height. For those few seconds, there were no problems. No one had died for me, and I would see my sister every day for the rest of her life. I was pleasantly surprised that those remorseful feelings didn't surge through me once again when we came up for air. I felt happy and content, but it was probably Jasper's power affecting me. "Where do you want us to go, Alice? Anywhere you want to go, just name it. It's just you and me now." He picked up my hand again and kissed the knuckle there. "We can go anywhere your heart desires."

"Hmm…" I pondered dramatically. While I was just playing ignorant to our future whereabouts, I actually considered that. What did my heart want? _Jasper, _my thoughts automatically answered. Ok—I had what my heart wanted most. What else did I want? _Bella_, my brain answered again. I frowned as my dead heart lurched with her memory. Yes, I wanted desperately to see her, but I couldn't. While my heart longed to see her, my vast brain told me that that idea was impossible. Above all, I wanted Bella to be happy, safe, and- more importantly- alive. I knew that I wouldn't be able to handle another encounter with humans if I wanted to remain a… What was I? I was a vampire who didn't drink human blood? I still drank blood, but that of animals. What did that make me? A good vamp? That couldn't be right; Jasper hadn't switched yet, but he was still good. He was the best person I'd ever met. He had just been under the impression that there was no other way. I'd have to ponder a good name to call my new type of vampire.

I shook that thought from my head, and returned to my plan. "How about Washington?" I said quickly, enjoying the confused face that immediately stared back at me.

"As in Washington D.C., Washington?" Jasper asked, genuinely confused. It was all so random that he couldn't quite comprehend what I was saying.

"No, I mean like Washington the state, Washington." I said matter-of-factly.

"Ok… but why, out of the entire world, would you want to go to Washington?" He asked.

"I have my reasons…" I trailed off dramatically. When he raised an eyebrow in confusion, I smiled and continued. "Do you remember that group of vampires I saw in my vision a little while ago that drank the blood of animals? The one that saved me from my starvation? Well, I had another vision about them—and about us."

He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at me, "Yes, go on."

"I saw us joining them." The look that spread over his expression wasn't hopeful, like me, but hesitant. Before he could protest, I started to argue my point more. "Look, Jasper, this is the start of a new life for us! I know it will be hard for you, and it will be for me too, but we can do this _together._ I don't have to hide any more, and you don't have to pretend any more. We can turn our lives around. We can be genuinely _happy._ I've seen it, Jasper! It's going to be great. I know it."

He still held the same expression, but his voice told me that I had him on board. "Together?" He asked, and I nodded enthusiastically. "That sounds pretty good to me." My grin stretched so wide I thought it would wrap around my head, and I hugged him around the waist. "So what part of Washington are we headed towards? Seattle?"

I quickly remembered the sign from my vision: 'The City of Forks Welcomes You.' I shook my head at his guess and responded to his question, "No. It's a smaller town. I know I've never heard of it. It's called Forks. What about you? Ring any bells?" He shook his head.

"That's good then. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to stick around a big city anyway. Trying to kick the habit, and all that." I grinned at his light mood. It was refreshing to see him happy after weeks of indecision and pain. "So I suppose we should leave as soon as we can, huh? We have a pretty long run ahead of us."

"Yes, I suppose we should." I agreed, but now it was an absentminded concurrence. All this talk of a new life had almost made me forget the only thing holding me back in Houston; my sister, my Bella. I remembered her in my vision, so sad and alone. I had to fix that. I had to let her know that she'll never be alone. As long as I existed, I wouldn't let that happen. My plan was coming back to me, and in just a few seconds I had decided what I was going to do. "Hey, Jasper?" I asked, my voice quiet. I suppose Jasper was a little confused, seeing as my thought process had only lasted half a second.

"Yes?" He replied, a little worry in his voice. I guessed it was directed at the concern in my emotions.

"I- do you think you could do something for me before we go?" I didn't look him directly in the eye, almost embarrassed that I couldn't do this myself. I didn't want to come into contact with any humans, so going into the city was out of the question for me.

"Anything. You name it." His voiced was heavy with his concern for me.

I looked up into his eyes, stalling my question. Finally, after a few tense seconds, I asked, "Could you steal me some stationary? I have some unfinished business here." He blinked in surprise at my question.

He asked the obvious follow-up question, "What business would that be?" He listened patiently as I explained my entire plan to him. He nodded in agreement, and ran off in a different direction, leaving me to think.

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He was back in a few minutes, and in that time I had thought of everything I need to say—the perfect words to enact my plan. I took the paper and pen he had brought me and began to write, copying down the entire thing word for word from my mind. Jasper waited, not looking at what I wrote out of courtesy. This was a very emotional thing for me, and I was glad he allowed me to do this without looking over my shoulder. When I was done, I folded the paper twice and stuck it in the small envelope. I sealed the envelope, and wrote a single word on the back; _Bella._

I handed the letter to Jasper, and he nodded. He knew what to do. He ran back towards the city, and I sat, watching the future to make sure he would finish the plan without problems.

_Jasper ran through the abandoned part of Houston in plain sight, but when he approached the busier section of the city he remained in the shadowed alleys. Luckily, today was one of those overcast days Houston, so Jasper wouldn't sparkle if he stepped in the daylight. But still, he had to remain unseen. Even when people passed him, they didn't see him lurking in the dark. Finally he found it, and I was surprised that he had. It seemed that fate was definitely on my side today as I saw the little yellow Porsche 911 Turbo. I had definitely gotten lucky, finding it still there. The front of the car was littered with parking tickets, from being at the same meter for over a month. There was a boot on the front left tire. Yes, I was definitely lucky—there was no way that my car could still be in the same place if I wasn't. I figured that it had to have been towed or stolen by now, but it serendipitously had not moved from its parking space. _

_When the area around my car had cleared of pedestrians temporarily, Jasper moved from his place in the shadows. He held my letter in his right hand, and opened the trunk of the car with his left; either it was unlocked, or he had broken my car. There three bags in the trunk as well as a black and white striped Chanel purse. I focused on the purse curiously, thinking I must have accidentally left it in my car in my rush to get to the alley that day. _

_Huh, _I thought_. Guess I must have had been a rich human, though I could have guessed that from the enormous mansion in my visions. At least it was good to know I had had style back then. _I laughed a little when I realized that the purse I was seeing in my vision matched the outfit I was wearing, though it was now torn and dirty from over a month of wear. I definitely needed to find new clothes at the first opportunity, but for now I needed to focus back on my vision.

_Jasper shuffled through the bags until he found what he was looking for; a pair of dark, killer skinny jeans that I had bought on the fateful day of my change. These were for Bella. He slipped the letter in the pocket and began to close the trunk of the car, when something caught his eye. He smiled a bit ruefully, and took something out of the purse. He stuffed the item in the pocket of his jeans. That was annoying. It almost seemed like he was doing it on purpose; blocking the item with his hand so I couldn't see it. Then I remembered that he didn't know I was watching. Or maybe he guessed that I was watching, and was intentionally blocking this item from me. He closed the trunk finally and darted away from the car. He began the run back to find me._

I cut off the vision, confident that he would make it back fine without my surveillance. My eyebrows furrowed in frustration. What had Jasper taken from my purse? Was it for me? I figured it was, for I didn't see what use he could have with anything I had put in my purse as a human. I waited impatiently, angry that it took longer than I thought it would. I suppose I should have realized that I had just seen the future, not the present, and Jasper would probably only just be beginning his task in the city. When he finally did arrive, I had the same annoyed expression on my face.

When he saw my face, he laughed, but didn't ask why I looked that way. "So… everything went well. I did what you asked me to."

I nodded, straightening my face. "Yes, I saw. Thank you very much, Jasper." The gratitude wasn't there in my voice though, only that same annoyance. I did _not_ like not being able to see something interesting.

He laughed, "Yes, I thought you might." My eyes popped open in surprise. He _had_ been intentionally hiding the mystery item from me. What would we want to hide from me, though? "I brought you something." He added, probably sensing my impatience.

I raised one eyebrow and waited for him to show me. He took the item out of his pocket tantalizingly slow, and I tapped my foot impatiently. He hid the item in his hand, keeping me in suspense even longer.

I crossed my arms, "Jasper Whitlock. You have half of one second to give it to me before I kill you."

He laughed again, and finally flipped his hand over so I could see what he was hiding. When I saw the tiny slip of paper, I felt like my heart would have stopped if it hadn't already. When I realized exactly what it was, my chest tightened and my eyes felt irritated. I was so touched by Jasper's gesture that I was crying. Not only that, but the object itself made me instantly rueful. I picked up the little picture, looking at my sister and me longingly. This was the same picture from my vision; the one in the frame that Bella had held while she slept. I could finally see my human self clearly. It was odd to see myself the way I was then. My eyes were the color of milk chocolate, the same as Bella, and they were squinting as I laughed at whatever had been funny to us at the time. My hair was dark brown in the picture, instead of black like it was now. Other than the color, my face wasn't actually much different. I was just much, much paler. What I really looked at, though, was my sister Bella. She was laughing too, her mouth opened and her eyes showing her smile.

I held the picture in both of my hands, and whispered. "Oh, Jasper… thank you. Thank you so much. You don't know how much this means to me."

He put his hands on my shoulders and kissed the top of my head, "You're welcome."

I just stood, looking at the pictures for a few minutes. Finally, I looked up at Jasper. "I think I'm ready to go now."

He took my hand, not speaking as we began to walk in the opposite direction of Houston. We were done with the city, and now we would start a new life. And, most of all, we would do it together.

* * *

**I know, kind of a cheesy ending there, but I thought they needed some fluffy happiness for a change. **

**The epilogue will be up on the 31st of this month and the information regarding the sequel will be posted soon after that. **

**Thanks everyone, it has been a great time**

**-TG**


	26. Epilogue

**And, last but not least, the epilogue. :) I finally get to post this. I've had it roughly written since the fourth or fifth chapter, and I'm excited to see what you think. It's different from every other chapter in this fanfiction, and you will immediately see why. I hope this answers some of your unaswered questions, and the rest of those questions will be answered in the sequel. I'll be posting the information regarding the sequel in a few days, so look out for it. I'm excited to start the next adventure with everyone. **

**Thanks to everyone!**

**-TG**

**P.S. Ah Grammatical errors... please excuse once again.**

**Oh, and P.P.S. I guess I haven't been on the ball about the disclaimers, but if you didn't know already, I don't own Stephenie Meyer's Characters. Stephenie Meyer does.**

**Epilogue- Two Years Later**

**Bella POV**

_I was ninety-nine point nine percent sure I was dreaming._

_The reasons I was certain were that, first, I was standing in a bright shaft of sunlight. (New Moon Page 1)._ Secondly, I was looking into the brilliantly beautiful eyes of the young woman I knew to be my sister, Alice, whom I knew was dead. She had been dead for two years, and nothing had magically changed that, no matter how many times I wished it had.

As impossible as this was, I was so happy to see her. Maybe I should have been a bit frightened at the fact that I was looking into the face of my dead sister. But I wasn't afraid at all. She certainly didn't look like a zombie... On the contrary, she looked better than I'd ever seen her before. Her pale face shown as if it was glowing, her hair was a darker color that suited her better than her previously dark brown locks, and her eyes weren't warm, chocolaty brown anymore, but a golden-amber color... no that didn't fit. Her eyes were too beautiful to simply be _golden._ They were like shining gems trapped in her face- like little melted pools of topaz. Yes, that was fitting: _Liquid Topaz._

I didn't know where the bright shaft of light was radiating from, but as it reached the pale, perfect surface of Alice's face, her skin glittered. It sparkled as if a thousand diamonds were embedded in her skin, each refracting the light into a million tiny rainbows that shown from her every surface. I couldn't avert my gaze from the iridescent surface of her face.

She looked down at me like an angel. Though it had been two years since I had seen her, and I was probably just as tall as, if not taller than, she was now, this was how I remembered looking at her: Looking up. She wore a long, white dress that flowed around her, making her look even more angelic. Overwhelmed with how much I missed her, I prepared myself to launch at her with an enormous hug. I needed to have her in my arms, to know without a doubt that she was substantial material and not just a ghost or a figment of my imagination. Despite my longing to grasp her, I found that I couldn't move.

She didn't move either. She simply smiled at me, looking like this wasn't a surprise to her. She looked positively happy yet seemed like appearing in front of me was nothing new at all. Of course, other than her new, magnificent appearance, this wasn't new for me either. But it was so gloriously familiar that I figured it was inevitably too good to be true. Oh, but I yearned with all my being for it to be true.

"Alice...?" I asked hesitantly. She looked like my Alice... well sort of. This Alice looked so happy and so full of life and beauty, while before she had always had a sort of shadow following her in her life; it had always seemed like there was a part of her that was missing. When she was living in the high-class, rich world, surrounded by everything she asked for and all the friends and boyfriends you could imagine (Albeit, shallow friends with hidden agendas), she appeared happy to the eye, but I knew that underneath the perfect surface she had always felt incomplete. Seeing her this way was... surreal. And despite how much I missed her and I much I longed for to come back to me, if this was her, for I didn't know if this was really her, than I was content. If she was this happy now, then I was okay with her not being with me now. I was happy that she was happy, even if her absence in my life had caused my life to be meaningless. This fortune she had left our family did nothing for me, as it had done for her. I was complete when she was with me, and now that she was gone, the meaningless void that was my life only seemed to be getting emptier with time.

Finishing my previous question, I continued, "Is it really you, Alice?" She seemed to ponder the question for a long minute, which made me ultimately suspicious. Was that such a hard question? It either was her, or it wasn't… right? Still, when she nodded, my smile grew until my cheeks began to hurt. I forgot my suspicion immediately, allowing myself to just bask in her presence. "Oh, Alice! I've missed you so much!" I wanted to hug her so much that it physically hurt me to be unable to have my arms around her. I just gleamed at her, studying every inch of her face as though it would dissolve into thin air before my eyes. As I watched her, I briefly saw a flash of red across her eyes. The change was almost too quick to see, but the transformation was there- infinitesimal in time, but still that brief flash of crimson that shone across her eyes frightened me. Alice frowned in confusion, and looked at me with an almost apologetic face. She shook her head slowly, shutting her eyes as if in pain. Her eyes popped open again, and suddenly the red in her irises took over. Her red eyes pierced into me now, not at all like the sister I had once loved. Now it seemed like- if I didn't know better- like she was about to attack me or something. She looked absolutely terrifying, like a monster trapped in my sister's body.

Her kind, warm expression was lost. It looked like her body had been taken over by some demonic force, and- even though it appeared that she wanted to attack me- I was so worried for her. She looked like she was about to lunge for me when, suddenly, fire rose up around us, the tongues of flame lashing out, whipping at her face and approaching figure. As the fire touched her face, I screamed. Alice was brought back to her senses, the gold shining back through the red in her eyes. She looked around, trying to find an escape through the wall of fire. She looked scared, and I cried out her name, begging the fire to disappear.

From somewhere, a fire alarm was sounding. I could here it pulsing in my ears, a constant ringing that I could feel throbbing in my chest. Despite the alarm, no one was coming to save us. Alice was being engulfed by the flames.

I screamed out to her, "Alice, No! Don't go, don't leave me again!" The fire alarm continued, and I tried desperately to move, but I still couldn't budge from where I was standing. If I couldn't move, I was going to die here, engulfed by the flames as I watched my best friend and sister burned alive in front of me. I closed my eyes, weeping uncontrollably.

And that's when I woke up, I suppose. I wasn't quite sure, because the fire alarm was still going off. I looked over to my nightstand, identifying the source of the alarm as my bothersome alarm clock. I hit the snooze button.

I glanced at it and did a double take. It was 7:10. Class started in 10 minutes and I was going to be late for my first day of Sophomore year. I ran to the bathroom, brushing my teeth and brushing my hair until the natural waves looked suitable. I threw a headband on it, holding back the long bangs I had been growing out. I ran into my room searching through my clean clothes, which was very limited.

I hadn't remembered to wash my clothes last night. For once, I cursed myself for wanting to be completely independent from the high-class lifestyle my parents fawned over. I had liked our simple, family life-style from before, which had completely disappeared when my parents had discovered gardeners, workers, butlers, maids, and any other assortment of people who could do your work for you, including wash your clothes so you didn't have to get your perfectly manicured fingers at all wrinkly or dirty. That wasn't me. I had been refusing to subject myself to this lifestyle for over a year, which included washing my own clothes. I had completely refused to let the maids clean my room or wash my clothes.

After frantically searching through the bottom of my closet, I found a pair of dark skinny jeans I didn't recognize, but I threw them on for lack of something else to wear. I found a never-used lacy button up shirt. Lastly, I put on my brown leather boots.

I rushed out of my bedroom, passing Alice's room on the way. Though I always tried not to notice the closed door, I never succeeded in doing so. I was constantly aware of this the personal items in her room had been packed away in boxes, which always stood in a daunting pile in the corner of her enormous room. Her door was always locked, and the key was probably long lost by my mother. The lock was easy to pick, which I had often done after Alice had disappeared. I hadn't slept in Alice's room in over a year, though, finally trying to accept that she wasn't coming back. I slipped passed the door without looking at it today, not wanting to be reminded of Alice as I continuously was.

I quickly grabbed a granola bar and tossed my car keys into my bag. I ran through the kitchen, out the servants' quarters, and into the garage. I was the only person, other than the family chauffeur, to ever step foot in the vast room that was our garage. It held our family limo, which my parents were constantly driven around in, followed by my father's Corvette, my mother's Ferrari, my red, Cadillac Escalade truck, and lastly, in the far corner of the garage was Alice's Porsche, Charlotte. I sighed, as I did every time I saw the poor thing. Once loved almost to the point of deterioration, it now sat neglected in the corner of the garage. It hadn't been driven since we had gotten it back from the police station. Like the memory of Alice, Charlotte seemed to be petrified in time. Like Alice herself, it almost seemed forgotten by everyone except me. My parent's hadn't mentioned the car once, and- also like Alice's memory -they referred to the "out of sight, out of mind" tactic. Anything that could remind them of their daughter was put to the side in boxes or kept in rooms that they never entered anymore- including me. Maybe I looked like her now that I was older, but- for whatever reason -family dinners or outings were a thing of the past. I was a reminder of Alice, and that pain was something they would rather not have to endure. So, since Alice's death, they gave me whatever I asked for to keep me occupied and saw me only when they had to. I practically had to make an appointment to see my father, and my mother had taken up anything she could, whether it was gardening club, yoga, book readings, or aristocratic societies, to be too busy to see me anymore. I was a stranger in my own home now, as I had been for the last two years.

I made my way to my truck, and as I sat in the leather seats, I finally recognized the unfamiliar jeans I had put on. I sucked in my breath in an attempt not to cry. _How many times did I need to be reminded of Alice this morning?_ I thought to myself. These were the jeans my sister left for me. I had found them on that sad day two years ago, in the trunk of that long forgotten Porsche as if nothing changed except Alice had forgotten to bring the bags in the house again. But- at the time- it meant that everything had changed. The Police had given up searching for her- or at that point, her body -and declared her a lost cause. My sister would never be found, because she was probably dead. I'd always hoped and felt deep down that Alice couldn't be dead. As I played with the hem of the shirt she had bought for me on that fateful day, I realized I had officially given up hope. Though, deep down it still felt as if she were alive, I figured that it was just her memory. But even my memory, my dream, of my sister now seemed to be dead.

I rubbed the dark denim material on my legs, realizing that the last person to hold these jeans may have been my sister. I'd never worn them before, and they were probably way too short for me, but my boots covered up the bottoms. I sighed and pulled out of the drive way. It was too late for me to change now.

I pulled into my parking space at Bayer High School. It was my very first year at this high school, and I was going to be late. After the last horrifying year at Spring Oaks High, I had demanded to change schools. I couldn't be known forever by every living soul as "Alice Brandon's Little Sister." That title came with expectations I just couldn't meet.

I was opening the door to the truck before I'd even stopped, simultaneously pulling into my parking space, pulling the emergency break, gathering my bag and keys, and exiting the vehicle. I ran into the school, tripping twice, and the halls were abandoned.

I looked quickly at my schedule that I had luckily acquired earlier at orientation and ran to my first class: U.S. History. I ran in just as the bell rang, and- as if by clock work- I heard my history teacher call out "Cynthia Brandon" for attendance.

This was what I hated about being late; everyone stares at you. Any klutz would agree with me that being in the spotlight is definitely not a good thing. And, boy, did I get some stares. The girls seemed to completely ignore me, but the boys seemed curious. I could already tell this would be bad. I was the new girl; instantly a mystery, so instantly intriguing. I suppose I was decent looking. While I may not be as hot as my sister was, I was a Brandon girl. We were well known for our looks unfortunately. I didn't see what everyone's hype was about. I was plain. Everything about me was plain; my brown, un-highlighted hair, my short, un-manicured nails, and my dark un-contact lensed eyes. I didn't care if I was plain. I relished in being ordinary, because that meant no one would look at me—except for today that is.

"Cynthia Brandon?" The teacher asked my way.

I nodded, and spoke "Yes, but please call me Bella." He nodded, jotting something down in his book. I hated that every teacher or adult _still _insisted in calling me that name, even though I'd demanded that my parent change my official name to my middle name, Isabella, the previous summer. My teacher pointed to a seat at the back.

Now this was probably the one perk of getting here late; I got to sit in the back, away from eyes of other people.

Still, people physically turned around to get a better look at me. How embarrassing for them. Despite how ridiculous _they_ looked, I couldn't help the red flush that crept up my neck and cheeks. The class passed slowly, and I didn't pay attention. Instead I doodled in my notebook and tried to ignore the stares of those who were close enough to look at me without it being so ostentatious, glaring at those few guileless students who continued to flamboyantly stare at me.

My first few classes after that passed quickly, thank God. Soon enough I was walking to lunch. I looked around for any familiar faces from any of my classes, but I was interrupted when I felt a hand rudely hit my back side.

As I turned around, my face flushed again. I was trying to look as ticked off as I really was, but my cheeks always betrayed me.

"Hey, Baby, do you have a mirror in your back pocket? 'Cause I can see myself in your pants." The boy said boldly. I laughed. It was absurd how corny that pick up line was, but this was the only thing I liked about people thinking I was good looking. I got to do this:

I smiled my best flirtatious smile and swayed over to him slowly, backing him against the wall. He smiled confidently and smugly as I pressed my body closer to him.

"What's your name?" I said as seductively as I could.

"Mike Newton, and you must be Isabella Brandon." His hands moved to my back, sliding down slowly.

"That I am, Mike. That I am. So, now Mike: I kind of have this little ritual with my guys. You know, I usually try to play hard to get. But in your case..." He smiled as I trailed off. I pressed my whole body as close to his as possible. I could tell the whole cafeteria was watching us eagerly, as if I was about to make out with him- or worse -right here. _Hahaha. _I laughed internally. _They're going to get something _much _juicier._

"In your case, I think I'll just require a little begging." I said with authority. He looked at me, confused. His incredulous expression only made me happier that I was about to do this.

"Huh?" He said, using his best dumb jock voice.

"No? You don't know how to beg? Let me help you a little... First; you get on your knees." As I said the last word, I jammed my right knee up and hit him where it hurt. I heard a round of "Oh!'s" coming from our audience. The breath was knocked out of him. He sank to his knees slowly. I grinned in satisfaction. He might not be able to have children after that one.

"Then, a little groveling never hurt." I said as I circled my way around him. I kicked him in the butt, which sent him flying forward on his hands and knees.

I laughed at his position, and face, which was scrunched up in a mask of pain. "Well... it never hurt _me _anyway. That's a little better, Mike. Now you're getting the hang of it. But- still -I don't think it's enough..." I circled back around to his front and squatted in front of him. A circle of people were surrounding us.

Mike didn't make a move to get up since he was clearly still in pain.

"And you know, if all else fails..." I whispered to him, just loud enough for the inner part of the crowd to hear. A few people had camera phones out. I got up slowly.

"Well, if all else fails, you can serenade me. I'm a sucker for music." I told the crouching figure. On the last word, I lifted my boot a few feet off the ground and lowered it quickly on Mike's hand, the heel of the shoe making great contact with the back of is hand.

He cried out in pain and toppled over, holding his hand and…well, the other area I had battered.

"And _that's_ how you beg properly." I said triumphantly. A few girls clapped in the circle. I looked over the circle menacingly at the guys.

"Remember this if any of you _ever _tries to use my ass as a squeeze toy again." They all took a step back, clearly afraid of me. I decided I wasn't hungry today, and I forced myself out of the thick circle and into the girls' bathroom.

I quickly looked myself over in the mirror. _Oh great,_ I thought. _I actually _did _look decent today. Leave it to Alice to force fashion on me even in the after life. _I shook my head. I never wore things like these clothes. I could have blended in and looked perfectly plain if I'd thought about it. I know I sounded crazy, but this was like a curse. Every day, I wished I could be born into some low-class family that would love me but not have enough money to force designer clothes on me. Alice used to love this life, but I never liked any of it. I was the first person to get attention and the last person to ever want it.

I put my hands in my pockets sullenly. As my right hand went to the bottom of the pocket, I felt a crinkly material touch my fingers. Normally, I would have thought this would be a receipt or an extra dollar I'd left in my jean pocket, but I'd never worn these pants before, so I couldn't have left anything there. I pulled out a piece of paper, which had been folded into a tiny square.

After I unfolded it, I realized it was a tiny envelope with a pretty script written on the front that read "Bella." It looked similar to Alice's hand writing, except it was so neatly written it could have been calligraphy. Alice had always had pretty handwriting, but it was never this neat.

I opened the envelope quickly, unfolding the piece of paper hesitantly. I read it slowly, savoring every word. I could practically hear my sister's voice as I read it.

_My Bella,_

_I want you to know that I love you so much, and I always will. For all of eternity, I'll never forget you. You are my sister and my best friend. That will never change, even when we're apart._

_You should know that I am alive and happy and in love with the best man in the world- in the universe. Now I know what you're thinking: And- No -I didn't run off and get married in Vegas like some small-town girl. (And I'm not pregnant either) This is so much more than that... I can't even explain it. This is just where I'm meant to be._

_What's happened to me I can't say, but I know I'd never want this for you. I'd never want to hurt you like this, and I promise that I never will. I'm looking at my curse as a blessing as much as I can, but I regret every day that I can never see you again. And that's just it- I can never see you again. I know this is hard, because it's killing me to write this. You can never come looking for me, no matter how much you want to see me or I want to see you._

_Speaking of me "seeing you", you should know that my "gift" is stronger than ever. I will know if you try to find me, so don't. I'm watching you and looking out for you. Since it's the best I can do, I'll be your guardian angel. I will never let anything happen to you, if I can help it. (And I can)_

_I've left this note along with the outfit that I got for you so long ago. I hope you knock 'em dead! You are so beautiful that I don't think anyone will be able to resist you._

_Your best friend and sister for life,,_

_Alice_

_P.S. Take care of Charlotte for me. I miss her too, but not a fraction of how much I miss you._

I cried as I read it, but I held the paper away from me so I wouldn't splatter the ink, ruining the last piece of Alice I had left. I read the letter over and over until I had memorized it. Then I read it again. My Alice was alive, and I was just standing here.

I didn't care if she told me not to, I was going to find her. I would find her if my life depended on it. Which- in a way -it did. Alice was my best friend, my family, and everything to me. Without her, my life had been meaningless. When I thought she was dead, I knew I would never see her. But now that I knew she was alive- I couldn't stand knowing that she was somewhere out there, and I wasn't with her.

She said she wouldn't let anything happen to me, but she did. She left me, and she left an incurable wound in her place. She hurt me, when she promised that she never would. She didn't keep her promise to watch over me, so I didn't have to keep her promise to not go after her.

I read over the last line of her letter again; "Please take care of Charlotte for me." I thought back to the forgotten, neglected car in the corner of the garage this morning. I thought of the way it had been forgotten as Alice had been until now. Now, Alice was alive, and I wouldn't be neglecting her or that car anymore. _Oh, I'm going to take care of Charlotte alright._ I though deviously. _And, in return, Charlotte's going to take me straight to you, Alice._

* * *

**So, what did you think? Finally, a look into Bella's thoughts, huh? I know she's a bit out of character, but you have to remember (like Alice in the beginning of this fanfiction) that she lives in a completely different environment than we see her in the books. This means that the sequel will definitely be different than the books, but I will stay as in canon as possible. **

**Tell me what you thought in a review! **

**-TG**

* * *


	27. Sequel Notice

**Hello everyone! Just to let you know--right after I post this update, I will be posting the preface to _The Witness _sequel. Below is a little informaton regarding the sequel. I hope you'll check it out. :)**

**The Watcher**

**Rated T**

**By TGluvsTWILIGHT**

Summary:

Sequel to the Witness: Now that Bella knows her sister is alive nothing can stop her from finding her. Alice must deal with not only her sensitivity to humans but the approach of her sister, her wedding, and the Volturi- which should she fear more?


End file.
